Thread: UT: Major immigration bill held by Senate

Major immigration bill held by Senate
Published: February 19, 2008

A vote on an omnibus piece of immigration legislation was put on hold today, with sponsor Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, saying he's working on fine tuning the legislation to make it palatable to religious and business organizations.
Describing the changes to SB81 as "word smithing here and there," Hickman said he wants to make the bill "a really fine piece of legislation."

The bill would prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining jobs or public benefits and would create a Class A misdemeanor for those who harbor or transport them.

That misdemeanor is one area that Hickman says will likely be changed, to ensure it doesn't prevent churches from performing their normal duties.

Hickman acknowledged the LDS church was among ecclesiastical groups that he's been working with, but said other religions have been involved in the discussion as well.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, says Hickman has done a good job balancing compassion with the rule of law as he's crafted his legislation by "hitting at the core but rounding off the edges."

Valentine said that the bill likely has enough support to pass the Senate.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695254484,00.html

Hatch, Bennett: No Federal Immigration Changes in Sight

Last Edited: Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008, 1:12 PM MST

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah's U.S. senators told the Legislature on Tuesday that changes to federal immigration laws won't occur until after the next president takes office -- and possibly longer.

The comments come as the Republican-controlled Legislature considers a pack of bills in response to what some see as Congress' failure to act on illegal immigration.

Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett did not address any of the state bills. Instead, in their annual address to the Legislature, they told lawmakers that Congress wouldn't make any changes soon.

"I think the prediction it may be as long as five years is probably true," Bennett said.

Some state lawmakers have been reluctant to impose more restrictions on illegal immigrants because of possible changes in federal laws.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, contends Hatch and Bennett's comments reinforce the need for states to act.

"We were both discouraged and confirmed with our understanding with where Congress is on illegal immigration. Senators Bennett and Hatch both indicated today that Congress is not going to deal with this issue in the short term," he said. "This state is trying to be accurate in its balance between the compassion and the rule of law."

Lawmakers are considering eliminating in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, repealing a driving privilege card that allows them to drive and buy insurance and making it illegal to knowingly transport illegal immigrants.

The Senate planned to debate a sweeping immigration bill Tuesday, modeled after an Oklahoma law, but pushed it to Thursday.

State Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, said lawmakers didn't have enough time to debate the bill Tuesday and that he wanted to make some changes to it before it's heard.

Numerous churches have complained that his bill is too harsh. He said Tuesday he will address that issue by allowing religious groups to continue to offer medical and other social services to illegal immigrants. His bill would ban illegal immigrants from receiving those services from government.

"What we hope to do is stem the tide of the impact that our undocumented folks are having ... in the areas of health care and criminal justice and so on," Hickman said. "Our intent is not to interfere with the ecclesiastical services."

Bennett and Hatch illustrate the difficulty in reaching a consensus in Congress. Bennett supported a bill sponsored by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, an Arizona senator, that would have granted legal status to millions of people living illegally in the U.S.

Hatch opposed it.

"That bill was a disaster," Hatch said Tuesday.

Bennett said he's received numerous complaints from farmers and other rural employers that efforts to secure the Mexican border have made it difficult to find workers.

"I have people coming to me and saying the crops are rotting in the fields," he said.

www.myfoxutah.com

A vote on an omnibus piece of immigration legislation was put on hold today, with sponsor Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, saying he's working on fine tuning the legislation to make it palatable to religious and business organizations.

Can we say...WATERING DOWN SB 81

Utah's U.S. senators told the Legislature on Tuesday that changes to federal immigration laws won't occur until after the next president takes office -- and possibly longer

I hope this includes Baca's & Pelosi's 5-year visa amnesty scheme.

Bennett said he's received numerous complaints from farmers and other rural employers that efforts to secure the Mexican border have made it difficult to find workers.

"I have people coming to me and saying the crops are rotting in the fields," he said.

BENNETT IS BELIEVING THE LIES HE'S BEEN TOLD

Originally Posted by Populist

Utah's U.S. senators told the Legislature on Tuesday that changes to federal immigration laws won't occur until after the next president takes office -- and possibly longer

I hope this includes Baca's & Pelosi's 5-year visa amnesty scheme.

I think this is the Hispanic Caucus' attempt to derail the SAVE Act, which has traction if it can be gotten around Pelosi's stiff arming.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, says Hickman has done a good job balancing compassion with the rule of law as he's crafted his legislation by "hitting at the core but rounding off the edges."

WATER DOWN ALERT!!!

The UT senate is currently trying to stall this bill. They want to stall it by creating some stupid immigration task force to study the impacts of illegal immigration on the UT economy.

Of course, FAIR has already done a study, including the state of UT and these idiots obviously haven't read the faxes of them I've been sending.

Even if it makes it past the senate, that weezel Huntsman has already said he will veto the bills.

OK, folks...lets get on the phones today and tomorrow, along with e-mail and faxes to the Utah Senators (29 of them) and ask them NOT to Water Down SB 81:
http://www.utahsenate.org/perl/spage/roster2007.pl
NOTE: The phone number for the Utah Senate is (801) 538-1035. To speak to individual Senator's staffers, it is best to call that number and the receptionist can then connect you to their Senate office. The phone numbers listed for each senator at the above link are their "day job" numbers and home numbers.
NOTE 2: The above link is good to use for sending e-mails

That misdemeanor is one area that Hickman says will likely be changed, to ensure it doesn't prevent churches from performing their normal duties.

What makes it "normal duties" for churches to aid and abet illegal immigration?

The churches have got to start obeying the law.