After impassioned testimony that harked back to the civil-rights struggles of the 1960s, Utah representatives Wednesday defeated a bill that would have required undocumented students to sign an affidavit swearing they had not worked in the state.
The vote was 40-34 against the measure. A bill requires 38 votes to pass.
"Whatever the purpose of the bill is, the actual impact of this bill will be to narrow the opening of the schoolhouse doors," said Rep. Kay McIff, R-Richfield. He said the measure reminded him of then-Gov. George Wallace trying to block black students from enrolling in the University of Alabama.
"Can you think of any culture, any country, anyone who benefited from narrowing the opening of the schoolhouse doors?"
Community activist Tony Yapias was pleased to hear of the bill's defeat. He had rallied Latinos to call and e-mail their legislators in opposition.
"It shows that there are legislators on the hill who are very compassionate and understand the dilemma many people are in," Yapias said. "But there are other issues that we need to continue to work on this session."
About 200 students are now taking advantage of the in-state tuition available to them so long as they graduated from a Utah high school.
Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, rattled off personal stories of undocumented students attending college in Utah.
"I wanted to bring their voices to the table," he said, "and bring them out of the shadows of fear and uncertainty."
Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy, who sponsored HB208, said he had the best interest of students in mind since they could be committing felonies by working and jeopardizing their futures.
"I don't care what kind of degree or how many they have, if this person comes to you and says he's been convicted of a felony, how much farther do you take that [job] interview?" he asked.
Activists who battled against the bill were "ecstatic."
"It's nice to see representatives take a realistic approach. They realized that there is a problem, but this bill is not the solution to the issue," said Matt Bradley, a University of Utah instructor who is part of the Magpie Collective, a group formed in opposition to the conservative Eagle Forum.
Not everyone rejoiced.
Ron Mortensen, of Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration, called the defeat a "terrible disservice" to undocumented students.
"We're sending the message to continue to commit felonies and violate the law," he said. "I'm terribly disappointed our elected officials are rewarding people for committing crimes."
Lawmakers every year since the in-state tuition law was passed in 2002 have unsuccessfully tried to repeal it or, as in the case of HB208, put restrictions on it.
