Utah, one of the country’s most conservative states, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 3-1, has turned its back on those Republicans who advocate deportation in favor of those who want immigration reform. The bill has passed both houses of the state legislature and the governor is expected to sign it.
What exactly does the ‘ Utah Way ‘ advocate? First off, it gives local law enforcement a provision that they say won’t really matter and it provides for a guest worker program that lawmakers feel will make all the difference in the world. That last component of the proposed law will grant legal status to undocumented workers. The legal status isn’t free. It would provide work permits to undocumented immigrant workers, and their immediate families, if they pay a fine, clear a criminal background check and study English.
According to the Washington Post:
Advocates of the compact included the police, some key elected officials and, critically, the Mormon church, whose members include perhaps 90 percent of Utah’s state lawmakers. They understood that the fast-growing Hispanic community, which counts for 13 percent of Utah’s population and may include more than 100,000 undocumented workers, is vital to the state’s tourism, agriculture and construction industries.
The advocates’ genius was to reframe the cause of immigration reform, including the guest-worker program, as fundamentally a conservative project. In the face of sound bites from reform opponents such as “What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?” Utah conservatives shot back with: What part of destroying the economy don’t you understand? And by the way, what part of breaking up families don’t you understand?
That certainly is a new twist. The usual deportation crowd of Republican is on the ropes in Utah. However, both US senators from Utah do not support the Utah Way. However, the bill’s chief sponsor Bill Wright, is a conservative dairy farmer when he isn’t being a legislator.
He admires the work ethic of the Hispanic farmhands he’s employed over the years and doesn’t care much for anything the government does, least of all the idea that it might deport millions of immigrant workers and their families.
“That’s not gonna happen,” Wright told me. “They’ve got cars, they’ve got money borrowed, they own property, they are intertwined. Just be real and face facts the way they are.”
A milestone in setting the stage for Wright’s legislation was the “Utah Compact,” a pithy declaration of reform principles drafted last fall by business leaders and conservative elites, who feared Utah would follow in Arizona’s footsteps and risk losing tens of millions of dollars in tourism and convention business, as Arizona did. The compact helped swing public opinion in Utah away from the illegal-immigrant bashers who admired Arizona’s law.
It sounds like Utah wants to avoid the pitfalls that their neighbor, Arizona made. Having the backing of the major church in the area sure doesn’t hurt either. Regardless of the separation of church and state, the reality is that 90% of the Utah state legislators are members of the Mormon Church. Perhaps they are being pragmatic. Perhaps they see this as a 2-fer– more potential Republicans and more potential Mormans. Regardless of motivation, it sounds like Utah is just solving a problem that ordinary Americans have been unable or unwilling to solve. Good for them.
More of this story in the Washington Post.
This is going to be fun to watch.
@Emma, it could very well end up in court.
Allowing people to work and to be part of the community does cut down on poverty which is why people are living 20 per house. Getting rid of the bad neighbor syndrome would take away alot of the grousing here. Utah needs the work force.
But you are right it should be interesting to watch. And I feel certain someone will also accuse Utah of trying to usurp federal power. I doubt if they will be losing Republican votes over it though. (or potential mormons)
Emma, how did you like my creative, spiffy title??? 👿 😈
@Moon-howler It caught my eye, for sure.
Utah has been leading the way in immigration reform for several years now. Their support of a guest worker program has been a boost for immigrants who really are here to work. I hope their efforts catch on with the intolerant states (clearing throat, VA and AZ) who are slitting their own throats and promoting social unrest.
As long as the Republican party is known for immigrant bashing, and following the likes of Arizona policies, it will never make headway among Hispanic voters. However, Hispanics tend to be socially conservative, and in that regard would be more naturally affiliated with the Republican party. If more Republicans espoused the pragmatic views of Utah, they would see their party ranks grow among Hispanics. I have to say tears came to my eyes when I read the article in the Post…finally SOMEONE has proposed a sensible alternative. But as a liberal Democrat, do I secretly hope the Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot?
Moon and Emma do bring up an interesting legal point. If the USG considers it wrong for Arizona to pass strict laws against illegal immigration because it is a usurpation of authority granted only to the federal government, how is it that the state of Utah can on its own initiative grant “legal status” to illegal immigrants? And, if that immigrant moves to Virginia, for example, does he keep his “legal status” or lose it? See you in court.
@Wolverine, from the article, I gathered that the Utah R’s fully expect to end up in court on this one.
I would expect that any work permit would be for Utah only. On the other hand, how about FICA? Social security numbers? This one will be interesting to watch play out.
The most sensible thing to me however, is if you are working legally then under the table becomes a non-issue as well as hanging out at the 7-11 looking for work. Doesn’t that get rid of most of things that are annoying the hell out of some Americans?
What Utah is doing should be considered just as illegal as what the feds think that Arizona is doing. Sanctuary for illegal immigrants, paths to work and citizenship on a state level, etc… all illegal. Remember, the feds say that ONLY the feds can make immigration law.
If that governor signs the bill, the primary starts as soon as ink meets paper.
@Cargo–except you didn’t used to think that what Az was doing was illegal. So which is it?
Sanctuary? Not really. What do you mean by sanctuary? I don’t think Utah can grant citizenship. However, it can say if you want to have a state work documen so you can work in this state you have to learn English and work towards citizenship.
Two words have become buzz words: sanctuary and amnesty.
If they are here in the country illegally, then they CANNOT, by definition, be working here legally. And that’s according to Federal law.
Very interesting! Thanks for posting…I will be watching this for sure.