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Old 05-23-2010, 12:28 PM
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Default Utah next to pass immigration law

Utah next to pass immigration law
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kTbacfog4w
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Old 05-27-2010, 05:26 PM
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Crackdown on illegal immigration coming to Utah?
Reforms loom » Governor backs Arizona law, in concept, but notes concerns.
Change is coming to Utah's immigration laws, Gov. Gary Herbert predicted Thursday, although he expressed reservations about the Beehive State following Arizona's model for cracking down on illegal immigrants.
"The concept and intent [of Arizona's new law] is something all Americans would support," Herbert said during his monthly KUED news conference. But he identified some concerns.
The Arizona measure requires law enforcement officers to ask for proof of legal residency if there is "reasonable suspicion" that a person may be undocumented.
Herbert favors a more rigorous standard of probable cause.
"I have some concerns about equal protection under the 14th Amendment, for example, and how that would play under the Arizona bill," he said. "Probable cause ought to be part of that. You need to raise the threshold. You cannot just, on a hunch, question people. That would be a violation of the 14th Amendment. You certainly can't use national origin, ethnicity color of your skin for criteria for suspicion."
Herbert said that, because of the fervor and frustration with the federal government surrounding the issue, Utah lawmakers will pass some kind of immigration reform during the 2011 legislative session. He plans to meet with law enforcement, immigrant organizations and the business community to discuss possible solutions and concerns.
"If you're not going to do it, federal government, then the states are," Herbert said. "Utah is prepared to take action."
On Wednesday, Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to voice opposition to Arizona's brand of immigration enforcement, specifically his feeling that it would make the Latino population unwilling to report crimes or cooperate with law enforcement. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has voiced similar concerns about Arizona's law.
Earlier this month, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Herbert postponed plans for a special session intended to revise a law that requires businesses to electronically verify employees' legal status. That law had no penalties, but Herbert and the business community wanted to clarify that participation in the program was voluntary.
The concern was that the Arizona action had raised the temperature so high that legislators might want to keep the E-Verify program mandatory and add tough penalties.
"This is a complicated issue," Herbert said. "You can't ... have some comprehensive immigration bill in a two- to three-hour special session."
Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Herbert's Democratic opponent in this year's gubernatorial race, has similar concerns about the constitutionality of Arizona's law and the risk of racial profiling, said spokeswoman Stella Thurkill.
"On top of that," Thurkill said, "Mayor Corroon says our jails are currently at capacity and our state prison system is not funded to handle the influx of nondangerous offenders."
Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, plans to introduce legislation similar to Arizona's next session. Sandstrom has said his bill would protect victims and witnesses of crimes from being asked for their legal status, and have a clearer standard for seeking documentation.
Tony Yapias, of the advocacy group Proyecto Latino de Utah, said it doesn't matter if Utah adopts the Arizona law or something akin to it.
"The whole principle aspect of this law is to racially profile. There is no other way around it," he said. "There should not be any laws introduced that mirror Arizona's bill."
Yapias acknowledges that it is inevitable that an immigration law will pass, but he urged the state's predominant faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to speak up on the issue.
Until that happens, Yapias said, "you're going to have these Mormon legislators introduce all types of laws, racist laws, in the state, like what happened in Arizona."
State Sen. Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican and sponsor of Arizona's law, is a Mormon.
LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said in a statement Thursday that the Utah-based faith recognizes the complexities of immigration reform, but has not taken a position on the issue. "However," he said, "church leaders have urged compassion and careful reflection when addressing immigration issues affecting millions of people."
Eli Cawley, co-chairman of the Utah Minuteman Project, said Herbert's decision to avoid the immigration issue in a special session "demonstrates exactly which side of the issue Mr. Herbert came down on. It was decidedly in favor of illegal aliens and the people who hire them."
As it stands now, Herbert supports a market-based approach. He said the federal government should build "tall fences" but have "a wide gate" that allows people to enter the country legally to work.
He said employers should be given time to adopt a verification system for workers and then, once the system is in place, government can slap employers who hire undocumented immigrants with tough fines. Employers would cease to hire illegal workers, the governor said, because they couldn't afford the risk.
"Jose Herbert here is going to end up saying, 'Hmm, I can't find a job here. I'm here for the economic benefit for my family, a good and noble reason. Maybe I need to go back and come through the gate and do this appropriately and legally,' " Herbert said. "And, frankly, you don't need to round anybody up. You don't need to punish anybody."
That may mean that all job applicants will have to get used to being asked if they are in the country legally, he added, but it is a small price to pay to resolve the issue.
Cawley said that Herbert has sided every time with "the Chamber of Commerce types" and the result has been market-driven enforcement that is "always to the detriment of the rule of law and American labor."
Thurkill said Corroon believes illegal immigration is not a problem isolated to any one state, and no single state should have to pick up the cost of enforcing the law.
"We need to secure our borders," she said, "crack down on employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, remove dangerous criminals from our country and require all people to go through the proper immigration process."
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15174656?source=most_viewed
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Old 05-27-2010, 05:45 PM
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Herbert Expects Utah to Adopt New Immigration Enforcement Law
(KCPW News) Governor Gary Herbert expects Utah to follow Arizona’s lead by passing an immigration enforcement bill, taking on a role previously left to the federal government.
“We have legislators that are already talking about introducing legislation,” he said. “I expect we will have a Utah immigration bill introduced and passed in the 2011 legislative session.”
Herbert doesn’t expect the legislature to simply copy Arizona’s law, but anticipates he will support whatever bill state lawmakers eventually pass. Two years ago, the Utah Legislature passed Senate Bill 81, but that only made it voluntary for local officers to enforce immigration law.
Speaking at his monthly news conference on KUED today, Herbert said he has met with Hispanic advocates, and expects them to be proactively involved when legislators craft a new immigration bill.
“And I said, you know, you need to in fact be proactive as a Latino group, because most of the undocumented aliens, truth be known, are Hispanic. So, why don’t you come up with a recommendation?” he said. “I’d be interested to know what your recommendation is as a Latino group under the rule of law. You can’t just say, let’s just turn a blind eye to the law and let it happen. That’s just not going to be acceptable.”
Regarding the Arizona law, Herbert is concerned that police officers will be able to ask for proof of legal residency based on “reasonable suspicion” that someone is an illegal immigrant. He believes that standard should be raised to “probable cause.” Republican Representative Stephen Sandstrom is leading the effort to adopt a new anti-illegal immigration bill in the Utah Legislature.
http://kcpw.org/blog/local-news/2010...forcement-law/

Herbert plans to sign immigration reform if passed
May 27th, 2010 @ 5:23pm
SALT LAKE CITY -- Gov. Gary Herbert says immigration tops his list of priorities. He told reporters Thursday he's willing to sign an immigration law like Arizona's if the Utah Legislature passes one next year.
As anger, frustration and pressure about immigration reform builds, Herbert made a bold prediction Thursday.
"I expect we'll have a Utah immigration reform bill introduced and passed in the 2011 Legislative Session," Herbert said during his monthly KUED news conference.
In fact, the governor says it's mandatory Utah pass something.
"We need to work together on a solution, because the aggravation and the frustration is growing," Herbert said. "And it does not appear, at least it hasn't in the past, that the federal government is going to take the situation on and do what they need to do."
An Arizona-type immigration law has already been drafted at Utah's Legislature, but the governor declined to give ideas about what he'd like to see, saying he wants a dialogue with a number of groups.
"I think there's a lot of different groups that will come together and discuss this in a rational way, and hopefully come up with an immigration bill," he said.
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Arizona's law calls for police to use a "reasonable suspicion" criteria on traffic stops. It also targets employers who hire and transport illegal immigrants. Among those opposed to the Arizona-type law: Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank. He says a new survey is one of many saying violent crime among illegals is not higher than the general population. He fears unintended consequences from alienating the wider Latino population.
"This fervor that we're getting rid of criminals is just not true," Burbank said. "We've demonstrated time and time again that it's not true. Police officers should keep the community safe by targeting the people who are committing the crime."
While Herbert may or may not agree with Burbank on his stance over the Arizona immigration law, but says he wants to discuss the issue with Burbank.
"I think there's some concerns about what this does to the law enforcement community, and I think their voice needs to be heard," Herbert said.
The governor says law enforcement agencies and members of the Latino population will be among those invited to the table to talk about Utah's version of immigration reform
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10941222&autostart=y
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