Thread: Utah Co. GOP backs repeal of immigration reforms

Utah Co. GOP backs repeal of immigration reforms

The Associated Press
Posted: 04/30/2011 04:30:10 PM PDT


SPANISH FORK—Hundreds of Utah County Republicans turned out at their GOP convention on Saturday to help pass a resolution urging the repeal of a controversial immigration overhaul that Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signed into law less than a month ago.
On a vote of 443-365, county delegates backed the proposed rollback of HB116, which among other things creates a guest worker program for illegal immigrants.

The package approved by the legislature during the 2011 general session also requires employers to verify the immigration status of their employees and mandates that anyone arrested for a felony must prove their citizenship.

About 1,000 people attended the convention at Maple Mountain High School in Spanish Fork. Supporters of the push for the repeal said the vote should signal to GOP faithful that the immigration bill is bad policy.

Herbert told the Deseret News after the vote he was disappointed but that the delegates have a right to voice their opinion as part of "the process."

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, a leading backer of the legislative effort, said he didn't understand the opposition to what he considers reasonable changes.

"If HB116 is not a responsible option, I'd like to know what is," he told the Salt Lake Tribune.

The law, which is to take effect in July 2013, sets up a process for illegal immigrants living in Utah before May 11, 2011, to obtain a guest worker permit. Applicants would be fined $2,500 for entering the country illegally or $1,000 for overstaying a visa. The program requires federal approval.
Keri Witte, the main sponsor of the resolution, said earlier the main focus of the repeal effort was the program allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the state.

"This is not a states' rights issue because both naturalization and migration are specifically enumerated in the Constitution as being the responsibility of the (federal) government," Witte told the Daily Herald of Provo.

She said the law should be repealed because lawmakers are now saying it is a "resolution on steroids" instead of an immigration solution.

Herbert explained before the convention that the immigration changes were meant to handle a problem at the state level that the federal government has neglected. The guest worker program created by HB116 was delayed for two years in the hopes that Congress would address the issue before that time.

"They are in fact not following their own requirements under the Constitution of securing the borders and taking care of naturalization," Herbert said. "I think there is an argument that says if you're not going to do it, the states are going to act. And we have done so."

Convention delegates received an email Thursday from Stan Lockhart, who is the husband of House Speaker Becky Lockhart, a lobbyist and longtime Republican activist. He warned that if Utah County Republicans passed the resolution, they would be on the opposite side of other county parties that have voted against similar resolutions.

www.mercurynews.com

Republicans will gain many more house seats come 2012.

Originally Posted by Pisces_2010

Republicans will gain many more house seats come 2012.

Yes they will and yes they should. YOU GO UTAH REPUBLICANS!!