This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The list arrived in a plain brown envelope, no return address, with a Salt Lake City postmark.
The unsigned letter accompanying it said the 1,300 names were people living in the U.S. illegally "and should be immediately deported." The names had addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth. A few included Social Security numbers.
Sprinkled throughout the list were tidbits of very personal information: "Baby due 10 April."
The list was purportedly gathered by "tax-paying citizens" who had solicited "legal Mexican nationals" to infiltrate Utah's undocumented Latino community, the letter said.
The reaction was immediate in The Tribune newsroom. The list was not what the letter claimed it to be. It had to have come from a database, most likely a government database. The birth dates were the tip-off.
We also knew that this was a story. Who would do this? And is anybody taking them seriously?
The day the first story appeared, it generated a national buzz. There were waves of fear and outrage among immigrant communities. People wondered if their names were on the list, and what would happen if they were.
We contacted people on the list. Many insisted they were legal, but our phone calls and questions obviously were troubling to them. One man acknowledged that he is not here legally, and has lived here for two decades, raising a family.
Our suspicions about the source of the list were proven true within a few days. The names came from the state Division of Workforce Services. Those listed were recipients of aid given to families in distress. They received things such as food stamps and medical care. And many of them are children born in the United States — U.S. citizens according to the Constitution.
The one option never discussed in The Tribune's newsroom was publishing any information from the list.
And now, with some hindsight, that instinct was right on. First off, those people were on the list for accessing government assistance, not because they broke the law. But more important is the fact that the distribution of this information preys on the most vulnerable among us, families struggling through rough economic times, and facing obstacles many of us can't even imagine.
In reporting a sensitive story, journalists constantly weigh the potential for harm to a person against the public's right to know. In the interest of minimizing harm, we sometimes withhold information.
We don't name victims of sexual assaults. We are extremely careful about naming minors in crime stories, recognizing in this digital age that information becomes a permanent public record. When we do print the name of someone accused of a crime, we commit to following the story through the judicial process. If that person is acquitted, we report it.
Occasionally we let people speak anonymously in order to protect them. We have done that with undocumented immigrants. One of our jobs is to give voice to those who have none, to shine light into society's dark corners. As journalists, our inclination is always to include more information. But we allow anonymity so people can speak freely without fear of retribution. We protect them.
There is some irony in the list story. Whoever mailed that envelope to The Tribune and other newsrooms asked us to publish "the names and numbers" of 1,300 people.
We did publish the name of one of two workers who was fired for allegedly compiling the list. The public interest in the case, and statements by Gov. Gary Herbert about the egregious breach of trust in state government, puts the spotlight squarely on these former state employees. The woman told The Tribune she can't talk about the situation on the advice of her attorney, but we reported that she told KSL that she has done nothing wrong.
The story, as we say, is developing.
Terry Orme is a managing editor at The Tribune. Contact him at orme@sltrib.com.