Utah legislator unveils controversial immigration bill

Ben Winslow, Reporter FOX 13 News
2:20 PM MDT, August 13, 2010

Related links
News Conference: Utah Immigration Bill Video
PDF: Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act

SALT LAKE CITY - Under angry shouts and protests, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom unveiled his controversial illegal immigration bill. The Orem Republican stood alone at a podium in the Capitol rotunda as he tried to explain his bill.

"This is a tough, hard-hitting bill and in some ways, it goes further than the Arizona immigration law," Sandstrom said.

The bill, still in its draft form, requires police to investigate someone's immigration status as a secondary offense. It requires police to verify the immigration status of anyone detained on "reasonable suspicion the person is an illegal alien." However, Sandstrom later told Fox 13 he has included a loophole for officers to ignore immigration status if it would hinder an ongoing criminal investigation.

He called his bill an "improved version of Arizona's SB 1070." The bill also requires state agencies to verify immigration status before providing benefits and allows legal residents to sue if agencies refuse to enforce it, with penalties attached.

"This is not about race," Sandstrom declared to a chorus of boos from protesters.

Sandstrom's bill would also create funding for a multi-agency strike force to combat violent and other major felony crimes associated with illegal immigration and human trafficking, and fund prosecution of identity theft crimes.

Latino groups called the bill "Arizona lite" and "cruel."

"This 'Arizona lite' solution, as he says, is the policy of the stick and the carrot," said Jose Gutierrez of the Utah-Hispanic Coalition. "As in the old times of slavery or as in the treatment of animals to domesticate them, but now to apply them to civilized human beings in Utah by the fact of being immigrants."

In a statement, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert suggested teh bill was created by the absence of the federal government in enacting immigration reform. Sandstrom echoed those comments.

"The bill released today by Rep. Sandstrom is a good starting point to further public discussion on the issue of illegal immigration reform in Utah," the governor said. "I look forward to other proposals that I expect to come forward leding up to the 2011 legislative session."

Sandstrom said in an interview with Fox 13 that he was willing to compromise on some parts of his bill. Others, like the police action on immigration status, he would not compromise on. Sandstrom also said he was supportive of a guest worker program in Utah.

Protesters said that Sandstrom's bill is racist, specifically targeting the Latino community. When a white man asked him if what kind of documents he'd need to show if he were stopped, Sandstrom said: "You? None." As he tried to explain why, he was overwhelmed with boos and shouts that he was a racist. Sandstrom insists his bill does not specify race or gender, but does require police to keep statistics as a safeguard to monitor against racial profiling.

Sandstrom acknowledged that his bill will likely face a costly legal challenge. But he said unlike Arizona's bill, which had key provisions struck down by a federal judge, any appeals in Utah would be handled by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. That court, based in Denver, is "friendlier" to immigration issues, he said.

Stay with FOX 13 News and fox13now.com for the latest developments on this story.

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