Utahns roll out Internet forum on immigration

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http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645198192,00.html


Deseret Morning News, Saturday, September 02, 2006

Utahns roll out Internet forum on immigration

By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News

A group of Utahns is creating a national Internet forum to discuss immigration reform in hopes of encouraging Congress to end a summerlong stalemate on the issue, and Rep. Chris Cannon predicted this week that there will be agreement on comprehensive reform by Christmas.


Tiani Coleman is co-chairwoman of the National Immigration Advisory Committee, a continuation of an informal immigration advisory group that Cannon, R-Utah, put together earlier this year to look at the issue. The group has created a report of its recommendations, and Coleman is now hoping for a similar discussion on a national level.


But not everyone agrees that there will be comprehensive — or any — reform this year.


On Wednesday, a Salt Lake rally encouraging President Bush to press Congress to act on comprehensive reform drew only about 100 people. That's a stark contrast to last spring, when thousands turned out for marches and rallies in Utah, and hundreds of mostly Latino students walked out of school.


Archie Archuleta, vice chairman of the Utah Hispanic Republican Assembly, had been among those who had questioned the timing and motives of the rally, which took place just hours after Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson's protest of the Iraq war.


Still, Archuleta said he was surprised more people didn't attend the rally, organized by Tony Yapias, chairman of the Utah Hispanic Democratic Caucus and director of Proyecto Latino. Yapias was also behind the April 9 march to the state Capitol, which drew more than 25,000 people, according to police estimates.


Archuleta suggested that perhaps the undocumented Latino community has "come to a fundamental understanding that it doesn't look like there will be any reform at all."


In a tough election year, lines have been drawn between the U.S. House bill, which focuses on border security and punishing those who hire illegal immigrants, and the U.S. Senate bill, which would also legalize many of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.


"People have reached a point where they're waiting," Archuleta said. "The people most interested in the reform are still there, and they want to come out, but they want to come out when it will make a difference."


Utah isn't the only place where immigrants and their supporters are cautiously eyeing Congress. Immigrants and their supporters took the the streets Friday in Chicago, Washington, Phoenix and Los Angeles, to start a weeklong encore of the rallies that brought millions out last spring, the Associated Press reported.


Although Congress may take up immigration issues when it returns next week, few on Capitol Hill are optimistic about passing legislation before November's midterm elections, the AP reported. And any new initiatives are likely to focus on enforcement, not on providing more legal options for illegal immigrants.


The increasingly strong sentiment toward enforcement-only measures in Washington has Archuleta concerned.


"It's not out of the question that the Republicans have hatched an idea of maybe passing a really ugly immigration-reform bill," Archuleta said. "They are playing to the anti-immigrant community."


Still, on the other side of the immigration debate, Alex Segura, director of the Utah Minuteman Project, isn't counting on Congress to get tough by cracking down on those who hire illegal immigrants any time soon.


"They are too far apart," he said of the House and Senate. "The House (members) are not going to budge.... They're not going to give into this guest-worker program."


However, Coleman was hopeful that the Web site, www.solvenow.org would bring together people with differing viewpoints and produce a discussion that could influence Congress to act on solid legislation by the end of the year.


"We're hoping something good will come out of it," Coleman said. She's co-chairing the group with Matt Throckmorton, who last year unsuccessfully tried to unseat Cannon on the immigration issue.


Cannon told the Deseret Morning News that he believes some of the heat has been taken off lawmakers after "the whole anti-immigration focus" of his primary bid earlier this summer failed. His challenger, John Jacob, had campaigned largely on promising to get tough on illegal immigration in his failed bid to unseat Cannon, who supports comprehensive reform.


Cannon said a shift of national attention from immigration to other issues, including the war between Israel and Hezbollah, also helped to take off some of the pressure. That, he said, could lead to a more promising discussion on immigration reform.





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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com


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© 2006 Deseret News Publishing Company

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Their site is still under construction, but I signed right up! I can't wait to help share information with them on how to solve our immigration crisis.

W