This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
In mid-July, several key opponents of Utah's guest-worker immigration law stood under the dome of the Capitol and announced they would offer a series of classes designed to educate people on why that controversial law should be repealed.
To date, none of those classes ever convened.
Brandon Beckham, who made that announcement on July 20, said a series of personal issues arose among organizers and forced the group to scrap at least six "Learn and Repeal" classes — the most recent of which was supposed to have been offered Sept. 17.
"There's a lot of stuff going on personally in our lives and our work and two of them [class organizers] are fathers and mothers and, in addition to that, I run a business and Arturo [Morales-Llan] is a realtor and Keri [Witte] does a business in her home," Beckham said. "It's really hectic, and you have to make ends meet."
Beckham, who runs a film-production company in Orem, said class organizers would be meeting soon to try to relaunch them.
Morales-Llan, who is a real estate agent in Orem, said he hoped to resurrect a class schedule with a syllabus as early as October, while Beckham said it might not be until later than that. However, both said classes would be offered before the next legislative session, which begins Jan. 23.
The kick-off class was supposed to be Aug. 24 at the South Jordan Library, where Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, was tentatively scheduled to be a guest speaker. The 90-minute classes from Logan to Orem were going to define terms like "amnesty" and existing federal guest-worker programs while also explaining why Utah's guest-worker law, HB116, was unconstitutional.
Witte said one of the problems for the classes was an unexpected departure of a constitutional law professor who was lined up to address that portion of the seminar.
"We need to get back and regroup," Witte said.
HB116 was signed by Gov. Gary Herbert in March, though it doesn't take effect until July 2013. It would create a visa program for existing undocumented workers and their families within the state after each paid a fine of either $1,000 or $2,500 and passed a series of background checks.
But the bill has been the subject of heated debate within the Republican Party and prompted Witte to author a nonbinding repeal resolution that passed a series of county party conventions and ultimately passed at the state Republican Party Convention in June by a vote of 833-739.
Beckham continued to step up pressure to repeal the measure with the announcement of the classes on July 20, and he met with Herbert in late August to try to get HB116 on the agenda of an upcoming special session called by the governor for redistricting.
"We needed to postpone and reschedule. We were coming close to the beginning of the school year and a lot of the moms involved got busy and the timing just wasn't very good," Morales-Llan said. "They are going to be back for sure, and we just have to strategize and put it together again."
Twitter: @davemontero