Thread: UT-Governor calls for discussion,lawmakers,law enfor,latinos

Governor calls for immigration discussion with lawmakers, law enforcement , Latino community
By Lisa Riley Roche

and Lee Davidson



Published: Thursday, July 1, 2010 2:43 p.m. MDT
29 comments

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert announced Thursday that he will bring together Utahns with an interest in immigration for "a frank and open discussion."

Herbert made the announcement both on English and Spanish radio stations, first on the Doug Wright Show on KSL Radio and then on Pulso Latino on Spanish Radio Exitos.

"I am going to bring together a roundtable discussion in the next two to three weeks where we will have all the stakeholders with different points of view," Herbert said on the Spanish station.

On KSL, he said, "I think we have an opportunity to have a mutually beneficial discussion that's respectful in tone." He added that will help the 2011 Legislature come up with a "correct" immigration bill.

Herbert said he would invite representatives of the Hispanic community, other minority groups with illegal immigrants, business leaders, legislators, law enforcement and churches, including Catholic and LDS representatives.

Specifically, Herbert said he hopes to include two lawmakers with diverse views on dealing with illegal immigrants in Utah — Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, who intends to run an Arizona-style immigration bill, and Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake, who strongly opposes it.

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Herbert also said he would invite Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank, who has been outspoken against the Arizona law that requires police to question the immigration status of people they have detained for other matters if police have reason to believe they are in the country illegally.

The governor said he wants to hear more about Burbank's concerns over the impact that efforts to curb illegal immigration can have on law enforcement, as well as about concerns others have raised about the effect on public schools.

"We have a lot of discussion" in the community about immigration, Herbert said on KSL Radio. "I'm not sure it's accurate."

Herbert said on Pulso Latino, "I believe that Utah will come up with some sort of immigration law that will be uniquely Utah, not necessarily Arizona. We're going to have an inclusive group of stakeholders to talk in a frank and open and respectful fashion."

Herbert used his call for a roundtable discussion to deflect some questions on Pulso Latino about his own views of how to handle illegal immigrants.

"I don't want to presuppose what will come out of my roundtable," he said in response to one question about what should happen to illegal immigrants now in the country.

Herbert did urge Hispanics to learn English during his interview on Pulso Latino, and he urged "everyone to come here appropriately" and "not be jumping ahead of the line" for immigration.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7000 ... cid=rss-30

If we didn't make it so easy for immigrants, they just might learn english to get along.