Thread: Unless tide turns, Utah will remain pro-illegal immigrant

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /701040319


Unless tide turns, Utah will remain pro-illegal immigrant

Illegal immigration is at its root an employer issue. As long as employers hire illegally, illegal immigrants will continue to enter our nation in utter disregard for our laws and do an end run around the legitimate immigration process. Employers who hire them are encouraging more than helping them earn a day's wage. They are supporting human trafficking, and to some extent are helping to support the illegal drug trade.

Current Utah labor laws deal primarily with fair labor standards, minors under employment, job discrimination and such. Employers are required to verify eligibility for employment by use of an I-9 according to the federal government, and the state requires every employer to notify the Utah New Hire Registry within 20 days of a new employee hire. Included in the required information is the Social Security number of the new employee. If that number is bogus, the state will notify the employer. In general, the tools provided to verify identity are inadequate to the task.

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Notably absent in this requirement is any obligation on the state to check employee records or enforce the existing law. The state sets a penalty of $25 per violation, or $500 if the violation is intentional or the result of collusion between the employer and employee to provide false information or withhold required information for the purposes of employment. Today those minuscule fines would be considered out-of-pocket expenses, and shrugged off even if they were enforced.
The only state agency which remotely addresses the issue of illegal immigration is the Utah Office of Ethnic Affairs which is predictably on the side of illegal immigrants and their families. I noted that they refer only to "immigrants" on their web site, and only refer to their potential legal status when identifying legislation which may negatively impact those who are here illegally (translation of negative impact: enforce immigration laws).

In short, Utah is a very pro-illegal immigrant state and has no specific agency tasked to enforce current federal and state employment laws with regard to employment eligibility and immigration status. The penalties for hiring an employee without properly reporting his hire to the state are both ridiculously low and unenforceable. No one routinely audits employers to ensure their compliance. The only companies audited by the state currently are those which provide direct human services and are licensed by the state to provide those services. They are subject to an annual audit for renewal of license, and employee records are checked as a matter of course. Even then, immigration status is not a factor in the record being examined, but only if the required documentation for that agency is present.

Utah State Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, has tried on three separate occasions over the years to amend Utah laws regarding the status of illegal immigrants in the areas of driver's licenses, non-resident status for university tuition and the Utah Employment Act specifically where it omits references to illegal immigrants.

Each of these bills were reviewed prior to being voted upon and were deemed highly unlikely to be unconstitutional. Thus, they stood a good chance of being upheld if challenged. All three amended bills were voted down. The powerful lobby of illegal immigration supporters helped to defeat them in the state legislature.

As long as employers are not held accountable by the state for illegal hiring practices, the problem and burden of illegal immigration on the state taxpayer will continue to mushroom. Arizona, our southern neighbor, is already feeling the pinch. They are experiencing major funding shortfalls in large part due to the burden of paying social services to illegal immigrants with no compensation in return from the federal government. It is only a matter of time before Utah is in a similar position.

It is time that employers were encouraged to hire only legal immigrants, and legal residents. It is time that citizen activists stood up to the state legislature and demanded laws which adequately address the growing problem of illegal immigration and stop dancing around the issue. It will not go away.

Civic-minded citizens are encouraged to remind employers of their duty to hire legally. Those who are interested can contact their local Minuteman Civil Defense Corps chapter in Southern Utah. You can e-mail the local chapter at minmanvol1@infowest.comand request more information or get involved on the local level. We need to turn the tide while we still can.

Mitch Cole is a resident of Beryl Junction.

There's more to this story on Utah than just hiring. I came across a story in our local papers that I will try and find, that Utah positively puts out the welcome mat for people from south of the border and grants them all sorts of benefits. There may be a theological reason behind this: possible converts, and the doctrine that they are descendants of the "Lamanites" and ultimately of the tribe of Manassah.

Betsy,
This is true, but one nice thing is the Utah Minuteman chapter is growing by leaps and bounds. As you know we seem to keep electing these same idiots in our state legislature regardless of what they seem to say or do.
More and more people are waking up in UT against the illegal problem.
If all the liberal pukes would quit moving here from CA, it would certainly help our cause.