Luz Robles, co-chairwoman of the Utah Hispanic Legislative Task Force, watched in tears as the House of Representatives voted to enact Bramble's bill.

"I think it's a hard position for any of us who are not undocumented to put ourselves in that situation," said Robles. "I can't imagine what it must be like. . . . I believe people are going to be scared and confused. . . . The next step is educating the community."

Other immigration bills that were referred to interim study were:

• HB239, which would have repealed a 2002 law allowing in-state tuition for undocumented high school graduates who had attended a Utah high school for three years.

• HB330, which would have repealed the 1999 law allowing illegal immigrants to use ITINs to get drivers' licenses.

• HB316, which would have created a tax break for a private company to create "specialized immigration services." Illegal immigrants would have the option of paying a monthly fee to join a database and take English or government classes. There is a provision to require participation to take advantage of state services.

• HB130, which would have required illegal immigrants to participate in "specialized immigration services" in order to get a driver's license.

Lawmakers suggested the interim study should go beyond drivers' licenses, however, as they heard that the State Tax Commission reported having 36,955 invalid Social Security numbers, many of them fraudulent.

Bramble said the Legislature needs to request a "full-blown" audit of Social Security numbers, as well as ITINs, to "purge the system of all those illegal Social Security numbers out there."

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Contributing: Wendy Leonard

E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com