Thread: Utah softens stand on illegals

Utah softens stand on illegals
By Washington Post
Saturday, August 14,2010

CENTERFIELD, Utah -- Just weeks ago, Utah seemed destined to become the next state to draw a rigid line against illegal immigration.

Lawmakers were completing work on a proposal similar to the law approved in Arizona, authorizing police to check the immigration status of those suspected of being in the country illegally. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert had made it clear he expected to sign a tough law early next year.

But rather suddenly, Utah officials are considering a different path, pondering measures that would help integrate undocumented workers in the state but still punish those who later enter illegally. Where Congress has failed to find common ground, Utah is trying to come up with its own version of a more comprehensive immigration policy.

"At one stage, all the talk was about an Arizona bill -- it was just like a runaway train," said Tony Yapias, a prominent Latino community activist in Utah who hosts a popular Spanish-language radio show. "But I haven't heard about that lately. Now there are other ideas, like a guest worker program, that have changed the direction of the debate."

President Obama signed a $600 million border security measure into law Friday, but a broader overhaul of immigration policy remains stalled in Congress. As a result, national divisions over immigration policy are playing out state by state. Passage of Arizona's law this spring propelled the issue into the spotlight, prompting a rare challenge by the federal government and a decision by a federal judge to hold up key sections of the measure.

Public opinion polls show widespread support nationally for Arizona's approach, and more than a dozen other states are considering similar moves. But the legal challenges and other reactions triggered by Arizona's law, including several calls for boycotts of the state, has caused some rethinking, at least in Utah.

Herbert, who for months had predicted he would sign a tough immigration bill, recently said the threat of boycotts could not be ignored.

"It's unfortunate, but that's part of what is happening in the marketplace," he said.

The tide shifted after publication last month of 1,300 names of people in the state suspected of being illegal immigrants. Yapias said he received a call from Alex Segura, founder of the fiercely anti-illegal immigration Utah Minutemen Project, who disapproved of publication of the list because its release -- allegedly by two state workers -- was itself a violation of the law.

Days later, Herbert hosted a two-hour meeting with business leaders, church members, law enforcement officials, legislators and other prominent voices, including Yapias. The outline for a guest worker program emerged, backed by the state's Chamber of Commerce, Utah's attorney general, and Republican state Sen. Howard Stephenson.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 94924.html

Do not believe this without a grain of Salt Lake City salt.

I think the guest worker proposal comes from a self selected and compromised committee and doubt if the entire rank and file membership of the Chamber of Commerce has even been polled on where they stand.

Originally Posted by Richard

Do not belive this without a grain of Salt Lake City salt.