This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Immigration enforcement and reform has been the hot button at the Legislature. But it is a button that Utah should not push, because under the Constitution, federal immigration law pre-empts state law. For that reason alone, Gov. Gary Herbert should veto HB116, the comprehensive immigration package that the Legislature has passed, because it contains a state guest worker program that is unconstitutional.
He also should veto HB497, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom's enforcement-only bill, because it could lead to racial profiling. (Sandstrom's bill is rolled into HB116, but HB497 also passed separately.) It would require police officers to verify the immigration status of anyone stopped for a felony or a serious misdemeanor, and it would allow officers to do the same for people stopped for lesser offenses. In the case of serious crimes, officers do that already. So the real impact of this law would be to make illegal aliens fear police and discourage them from cooperating to solve crimes.
The one immigration bill that the governor should sign is HB466, also sponsored by Rep. Sandstrom, which would create a pilot program with the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon to bring migrant workers with nonimmigrant U.S. visas to Utah. While this bill does not address illegal aliens, it would supplement legal immigration by migrant workers to the Beehive State, and it would do so within the bounds of existing federal immigration law. It is the one bill that people from all sides of the immigration debate support.
Utah lawmakers are tempted to venture into immigration reform because Congress has failed to do its job, that is, to rewrite immigration law to reflect economic reality and national security. The United States should have a guest worker program, and HB116 provides a good template for how such a program could work in Utah. It would require illegal aliens in the state prior to May 10 of this year to come forward, apply for a state work permit, pay a fine if they are in the country illegally, undergo a criminal background check, prove that they have a job, learn English, pay taxes and meet other requirements.
It's a good program, but that doesn't change the fact that Utah cannot make its own immigration laws. Chaos would result if each state tried. HB116 requires Utah to apply for federal waivers to allow the guest worker program, but federal law does not provide such exemptions. It is dubious that federal officials could grant them even if they wanted to.
Rather than waste precious state money on immigration laws that likely will be struck down in court, Utahns should pressure Congress to provide real solutions.