Thread: Mayors worry about cost, feasibility of Utah immigration bil

Mayors worry about cost, feasibility of Utah immigration bill
By MarÃ*a Villaseñor
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:11/07/2008 07:15:29 PM MST

Posted: 7:07 PM- State, county and city employees will be required to do the work of immigration agents next summer.
And several mayors worry about where they will find the money to verify the legal residence of everyone who tries to use public services - from 8-year-olds signing up for Little League to seniors attending activity centers.
It's a "can of worms," said Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.
SB81, passed earlier this year with substantial margins in the House and Senate, goes into effect next July. Though Corroon and city mayors might have different views on the new statute's merits, he said they all agree they don't know how to enforce it.
He estimates the task could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars - or even millions.
"If this is going to happen, what do we need to be doing?" Corroon asked after a Thursday meeting with area mayors.
Next month, he and 16 city bosses will talk with legislators, and Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, said in an interview the statute will be a key topic.
"It's impossible for us to do that kind of policing," she said, adding she wants legislators to either improve and clarify the bill or extend its implementation to give officials more time to prepare.
That's why lawmakers gave it a 2009 start date, said Kirk Torgensen, the Attorney General's chief deputy. The delay allows them to review it during the 2009 Legislature and make any changes, "which I think clearly will happen."
But the bill's sponsor said there is little validity to the mayors' concerns, adding the law needs no changes.
"Quite frankly, they're trying to make a very large mountain out of a very small molehill," St. George Sen. John Hickman said. "This bill is designed to protect the integrity of our state borders."
As to not having any money to implement the statute: "They always use that: 'Oh, we don't have the funds to enforce the law,' " Hickman said. "Then they need to find the funds to enforce the law. That's their charge."
And that part of the bill - requiring the Utah Attorney General to work out an agreement giving local law enforcement immigration and customs duties - is what worries Seghini most.
"We unilaterally oppose having our police officers as immigration agents," she said of her counterparts' concern that people will be too afraid to call police and report crimes.
"What kind of communities are we building?"

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10929955?source=rss

Someone should send them the copy of the cost of illegal immigration on the state of CA - if they think they don't have the $$$ now then they just need to look at CA to see what the future will hold.

If they're anything like the pols in Oregon, they'll funnel cash to every BS program you can think of. They plead poverty when the people want laws enforced. Utah, hold their feet to the fire. Make them do what they are legally bound to do.

...from 8-year-olds signing up for Little League to seniors attending activity centers.

Nice attempt at trivializing, now look at the murders, assaults, molestations, rapes, drunk driving accidents this will prevent.