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U.S. Sen. Mike Lee said Tuesday there is no chance that a guest-worker program passed by the Utah Legislature will be allowed to take effect.

"It's just not going to happen," Lee said. "It would take a massive shift in federal law for that to even be considered, and there's no appetite to transfer that authority over to the states."

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, also denounced the law, calling it unconstitutional and saying he would have vetoed it if he were the governor.

The Legislature passed HB116, which was backed by the Salt Lake Chamber and other groups, and would create a first-of-its-kind, state-run guest-worker program, allowing immigrants to get permission from the state to legally work here.

But it hinges on the state being granted a waiver by the federal government, which has authority over immigration.

That, Lee said, is impossible.

"I don't believe there is any possibility that the state is going to get any kind of a waiver," Lee said in an interview following a talk at Utah Valley University in Orem. "I know of no process in federal law that suggests that such a waiver could even be granted, nor do I know of any political inclination in Washington to let that happen."

Chaffetz, at a town hall meeting with GOP delegates in West Jordan on Tuesday night, also ripped HB116.

"I feel it's unconstitutional, and I took an oath to uphold the Constitution," he said to cheers from a standing-room-only crowd.

Chaffetz said it is ironic that Utah politicians often complain that the federal government violates the Constitution and moves into areas reserved for states, but now "we have come to the point that the state is trying to do something that clearly is the purview of the federal government" by issuing work permits.

He said he understands that Utah lawmakers are trying to send a message that the federal government must do something to solve immigration problems, but are going about it the wrong way.

"Should it be illegal to be here illegally? Yes," said Chaffetz, who called for better border enforcement, reform of the current visa system "and making sure that English is the official language of the United States of America."

His tough-on-immigration statements were applauded loudly by the audience.

HB116 included a lengthy note from legislative attorneys that essentially agreed with Lee's evaluation. The note said that there is currently no mechanism for the federal government to waive its immigration authority, and without that the bill is likely unconstitutional.

Whether a waiver is granted will be up to the federal government, acknowledges Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, who helped craft the legislation.

But Bramble said the state has passed resolutions "begging, pleading, demanding" that the administration and Congress address the issue and HB116 was an attempt "to push Washington" to act.

"Washington sits back, they do nothing to secure the border, they do nothing to address the reform of immigration," he said, "and it's unacceptable for Washington to say to the state, 'Sorry. Federal supremacy. You can't do anything to address the problem and we won't do anything to address the problem.' "

Bramble said Utah has to have some way to deal with the immigrants in the state and the costs associated with their health care, education, public safety and other issues.

"The bill sends a clear message to Washington that states are tired of Washington's failure to act, and I think [it is] the precursor to many, if not most states, taking it upon themselves to address immigration if the federal government does not," he said.

Lee said he understands the states' frustration and that he is "calling on the Obama administration to enforce the law on the southern border."

He sees no constitutional or legal conflicts with states passing enforcement laws like the one Arizona passed, or the diluted enforcement law Utah passed.

Those are matters, he said, in which the state and federal government can have overlapping enforcement of areas — like the use of illegal drugs — where both jurisdictions have laws against a crime.

A federal judge in Arizona has blocked that state's immigration enforcement law from taking effect based on questions of its constitutionality.

Ally Isom, a spokeswoman for Gov. Gary Herbert, who signed the bill into law two weeks ago, said it is early in a two-year process laid out in HB116.

"It might be premature to speculate on what the outcome might be," Isom said. "It doesn't lessen the governor's determination. We need to do something, and taking this to the federal government gives us some leverage [in those conversations]." —

Utah's new immigration laws

HB116 • Authorizes a guest-worker program beginning in two years that will allow undocumented immigrants to pay fines and stay. Could be challenged as infringing on federal authority.

HB497 • Requires local police to check the legal status of those arrested on felony or serious misdemeanor charges.

HB466 • Establishes a partnership with the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon to allow workers to come to Utah using federal visas.

HB469 • Allows Utah citizens to sponsor immigrants. May be challenged.