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Utah Republicans declined to re-enter the immigration debate Saturday, adjourning the state party's Central Committee meeting before taking up three proposed resolutions.

The three resolutions expressed divergent views on HB116, the state's guest-worker law, from declaring support for the law to calling legislators who voted for the bill "deficient in their performance as office holders on this issue."

State Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright urged committee members meeting in Fillmore to contain squabbling within the party, according to several people in attendance, and cautioned against making immigration the party's defining issue in the public eye.

"We're saying nope, that's not our issue," said Salt Lake County GOP Vice Chairwoman Michelle Mumford, who thought Wright's plea showed strong leadership. "Our issues are limited government and economy."

Not everyone was happy with the day's events. It was inappropriate for Wright to address the committee on the issue, said Robert Wren, one of the sponsors of an anti-HB116 resolution.

"It tends to change people's minds slightly," Wren said. "He is the chairman, and people tend to listen to the chairman."

Wren added that one committee member took the microphone and castigated Wright over mentioning "the church" — meaning the LDS Church —and its support of HB116, saying that the party may be dominated by one faith, but the beliefs of all need to be considered.

The committee could have remained in session all day debating the resolutions, Mumford said, but most seemed to agree that fighting about the issue was unwise.

Wright also urged committee members not to take the immigration fight to the media and instead keep it "in-house," according to Daniel Burton, chair of the Utah Young Republicans, tweeting as PubliusDB. Making the debate a public spectacle could harm the party's chances against Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson in 2012.

"It's important that this is a public and a fair debate, but at the end of the day that Republicans are all on the same team," said Ivan DuBois, state GOP executive director. "Our private differences can be kept internal."

The debate over HB116 is unlikely to die out so easily. State delegate Keri Witte is busy trying to garner support for a resolution calling for the repeal of HB116, which she plans to present for a vote at the state party convention June 18. Witte conceded that the resolution calling out lawmakers who voted on the issue is "going after your own," but she sees nothing wrong with criticizing bad legislation, which many believe is unconstitutional.

"It is a Republican issue, it is a conservative issue," Witte said. "It is something we have a right to take a stand against."

Wren plans to support the resolution at the state convention and believes others will as well. While party leaders tend to toe the line with elected officials, the majority of delegates vehemently dislike HB116, he said.

The Utah and Salt Lake County conventions last month approved resolutions calling for the repeal of HB116, despite impassioned pleas against such a stand by Gov. Gary Herbert and several legislators.

A Facebook page calling for the bill's repeal has nearly 400 members.

kdrake@sltrib.comTwitter: @Katie_Drake —

Mike Ridgway banished

The GOP Central Committee adopted a resolution essentially banishing from the party Mike Ridgway, a Republican gadfly who challenged GOP leaders.

The resolution said Ridgway had refused to accept party leaders' decisions and filed lawsuits obstructing the party. It says he may not attend state Republican Party meetings.

"It's all about corruption on a gargantuan scale and it's been going on for decades," Ridgway said Saturday. "It's just so incestuous." —

HB116

The guest worker law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor allows people in Utah illegally to stay so long as they pass a criminal background check, pay a fine, purchase health insurance and pay taxes. The law, which even legislative attorneys said is likely to be challenged in court, would take effect only after Utah obtained a waiver from the federal government or on July 1, 2013, whichever came first.