This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Utah Senate voted Monday to delay for another 10 years the implementation date of a controversial immigrant guest worker program, passed five years ago as part of rancorous debate then on immigration reform.

In 2011, the Legislature passed HB116 to create a state program to allow undocumented immigrants now in Utah to obtain guest-worker permits — and stay in the state — by paying fines, submitting to background checks and showing proficiency in English. It was part of an immigration-reform package.

The original HB116 delayed its effective date until 2015 — and later that was extended to 2017 — to seek a waiver to federal law to allow its implementation. Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, signaled two years ago he might try to repeal the guest-worker program if a federal waiver was not obtained by this session.

His SB237 originally sought that repeal. But a committee instead voted to extend the deadline to 2027 to give more time to seek federal waivers. Bramble dropped his sponsorship of the bill at that time, and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, assumed it instead.

"This will give us more time to see if the federal government actually acts and becomes a responsible agent in these immigration and alien related issues," Stephenson told the Senate. "We hoped they would have acted by now."

SB237 passed 17-7, and now goes to the House.

— Lee Davidson