Utah lawmakers poised to pass immigration package
Published: Friday, March 4, 2011 4:32 p.m. MST

By Dennis Romboy, Deseret News
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SALT LAKE CITY — State legislators were poised Friday afternoon to put together a package of bills to address illegal immigration in Utah.

The Senate is expected to approve an amended version of Rep. Bill Wright's guest worker bill that will include enforcement, employee verification and employer sanctions, and means for college students to obtain in-state tuition.

Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden, will serve as the Senate sponsor of HB116 and proposed the change's to Wright's measure. After Senate approval, it would move to the House for consideration.

The bill would:

• Establish in the Department of Public Safety a program for illegal immigrants to obtain a work permit in Utah.

• Require business with 15 or more employees to verify their legal status or face penalties.

• Require police to check the immigration status of people detained or arrested for felonies and class A misdemeanors; give police discretion to check the status for those suspected of class B and class C misdemeanors.

• Allow undocumented students who qualify for a guest worker permit to obtain in-state college tuition.

Legislative attorneys attached a note to the bill saying the guest worker program would be unconstitutional absent the federal government granting Utah authority to implement it. The bill calls for the program to start July 1, 2013, regardless.

The plan effectively removes Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, from the equation. He apparently has put off some House members in the drafting of his own illegal immigration legislation. His comprehensive proposal, SB288, includes key provisions lifted from several bills, including Rep. Stephen Sandstrom's enforcement-only measure.

"I don't know why anyone would be offended by his effort," Reid said of Bramble. But "it's sometimes better to take the emotion out of it or the personalities out of it."

Reid praised Bramble's efforts as head of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, which has been meeting since early in the legislative session to draft a "Utah solution." The group comprised of various stakeholders in the debate, including Reid, has worked behind the scenes to draft a bill that would comport with the Utah Compact and Gov. Gary Herbert's six principles on illegal immigration reform.

That effort put Bramble and Sandstrom at odds, although they are now working together on a migrant worker program. HB466, which would establish a partnership with the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon to supply workers to Utah, sailed through the House on Friday without a dissenting vote.

Bramble's bill would not go away as part of the plan, but would linger as Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, said earlier this week until the other bills pass.

The House approved a new version of Sandstrom's enforcement-only bill Friday morning without debate. A Senate committee iced his HB70 this week, saying it polarized the community.

The new bill, HB497, is almost identical to the previous measure but altered enough for the Senate to find palatable. Senate President Michael Waddoups said it is his understanding the measure meets the Senate's desire.

Sandstrom said he believes the bill has gone a long way to meet the needs of police agencies that initially had heartburn over its provisions.

"We do need an enforcement bill," Sandstrom said.

The Senate likely will approve Sandstrom's enforcement bill and per a previous agreement allow it to trump the enforcement piece in Wright's bill.

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