By mark alvarez

The Utah Legislature’s meddling in immigration has been ill-advised. State attempts at enforcement interfere with federal priorities and muddle a policy badly in need of reform.

State guest-worker programs for the undocumented directly violate federal law and are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause. Effort dedicated to fixing this irresolvable problem would be better spent on improving public education.

Photos

• 

	Join the Discussion
	Post a Comment

Last year, the Utah Legislature considered 27 proposals categorized under "immigration." Five passed. Then various organizations and the federal government sued Utah over its enforcement-only law, HB497, and a federal court will hear arguments on Feb. 17. In the spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider legal challenges to Arizona’s enforcement-only law, SB1070. This should provide clarity.

Last November, the U.S. Department of Justice declared that Utah’s state guest-worker law, HB116, was clearly pre-empted by federal law. Only delayed implementation saved Utah from multiple lawsuits. Some legislators suggest making HB116 conditional on approval from Congress. Tellingly, nobody from the Utah congressional delegation endorsed this.

Last month, a Pew Hispanic Center report indicated that 63 percent of undocumented adults have lived here for more than 10 years, so short-term permits without legalization make no sense. To be blunt, HB116 is not worth defending.

Lawmakers who seek friendlier immigration policy could allow undocumented students to compete for scholarships, but they cannot do much more because immigration authority rests with the federal government. It is the Utah congressional delegation that should act on immigration, just as the Utah Legislature should act to improve public schools.

Utah’s business leaders have identified schools as a priority for the economy. Last year, these leaders and community partners formed Prosperity 2020, with the goal of helping "90 percent of elementary students to achieve math and reading proficiency." To attain that goal, Utah must address the challenge of "increasing ethnic and racial diversity".

In 2007 approximately 25 percent of Utah’s preschool children were classified in a racial or ethnic minority, 33 percent in Salt Lake County. The percentages have risen.

The Granite School District, one of the largest and most diverse in Utah (43.8 percent minority in 2011), has provided a Title 1 preschool program since 2006. Last September, Voices for Utah Children published the results of a longitudinal study: The preschool program significantly closed language arts and math achievement gaps between third-graders at schools most impacted by poverty and those least impacted.

The report found two years of preschool raised their scores from "on average, well below the cut-off for special education" to "within the average range."

Legislators should shed their preoccupation with immigration and to provide quality education for all of the youngest among us.

Mark Alvarez is an attorney, co-hosts "Pulso Latino," a Spanish-language radio show, and lives in Salt Lake City.