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Against illegal immigration

In lieu of the largest protest in Utah history that occurred Sunday with an estimated 25,000 people marching to the state's capital promoting immigration rights, which also coincidentally was held in the wake of stalled bipartisan legislation that would enact historic immigration reform, The Spectrum & Daily News stands firm in our position that we do not condone or support illegal immigration.

As a nation of immigrants, we embrace those who would come here in compliance with the law in pursuit of the American dream. We resonate the words written by Emma Lazarus, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

At Ellis Island alone, more than 12 million immigrants entered the country between 1892 and 1954. It seems ironic that same number is now projected to represent the population of illegal immigrants now residing in the United States.

It is popular belief that those who risk life and limb to come to America are doing so to achieve a better quality of life. In fact, more than 52 percent of about 1,200 respondents who took an online poll on this newspaper's Web site said they would cross the border in that plight. While we can validate that reason for people coming to this country, we cannot accept any violation of the law in order to do it.
The Naturalization Act of 1790 established the rules for naturalized citizenship as required by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. Previous to that, almost anyone could move here and qualify, but since then, the government has imposed controls that we believe must be followed.

Admittedly, the provisions have been executed poorly and subsequent legislation faulty. The Immigration Act of 1965 that gave preference to those having U.S. relatives, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who had been in the country before 1982, but made it a crime to hire an illegal immigrant, and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in 1996, which was intended to control illegal immigration and combat "terrorism," but did neither, are all deficient immigration reform attempts with ineffective enforcement, which consequently have affected all of America's families.

That doesn't mean proposed legislation is destined to fail or should not be tempered with mercy. As we've said before, it is impractical to round millions of people up who are somewhat of shadows in our society for deportation. That is why we advocate for legislation designed to enhance border security while regulating the flow of immigration as future temporary workers, establish stricter penalties to companies hiring illegal immigrants, and provide a means for illegal immigrants here already to apply for legal permanent residency without having to leave the country.

In order for that to happen, pressure must mount on Congressional lawmakers who reconvene in less than two weeks. They will only come to an agreement on the issue if heavily prodded.

In the meantime, and echoing words of caution this editorial board has issued in the past, refraining from racial tactics of profiling and bigotry based solely on the color of a person's skin must be adhered to or risk feeding hostility and denigration, which are not the right messages to send to lawmakers.

Instead, we must unite as the mass public and demand an agreement be reached or the illegal immigration situation potentially could deteriorate to the point that we're all targeted as victims.

Originally published April 13, 2006