Though businesspeople are benefiting from illegal immigration, they appear unwilling to help pay for the costs of the impact of their actions on our state's public infrastructure. They seem ready to let the Utah taxpayers pay for their overhead. It is estimated there are more than 6,000 employers who do not provide workers with workers' compensation. When a worker suffers an industrial accident and has no health insurance, part of those costs are borne by taxpayers and added on to premiums of those who carry insurance. Utah insurance premiums are rapidly increasing, in part to cover the growing number of uninsured.

Our educational system is struggling financially, exacerbated by employers continuing to attract poor Mexicans without any concern for the social and financial burden they place on our schools. We have a growing pool of immigrant children in today's classrooms. We can look at them as an asset in bringing new vitality to our economy by educating them, or relegate them to tomorrow's poverty pool.

Mexico has turned the outsourcing of its poor people into a $14 billion-plus major economic growth program without any investment in developing its own ability to meet the needs of its people. The matricula card seems to be its economic program. And, Mexico has allowed China to take away the few industries that created jobs for their less-skilled. China now manufactures images of La Virgen de Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint. That says a lot.

Maybe the governor could propose to President Fox that for every matricula card issued, the Mexican government would put $5,000 (or some other amount) in the state's education fund. Maybe he could propose to tax any financial institution accepting matricula cards in transferring money. The governor might recommend that any employer who does not have workers' compensation insurance pay for the cost of the injured worker's medical care. And, perhaps he could challenge Utah businesses to help Mexico create jobs there that would curb the need for Mexicans to leave their country.

There are, no doubt, many reasonable options to be explored. To Utah citizens, however, the benefits of any trade and economic development with Mexico will be lost if the governor fails to use what political capital he has and doesn't put illegal immigration on the table when he visits President Fox. It would be in the interest of both their respective citizens to do so.

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Utah native John Florez has founded several Hispanic civil rights organizations, served on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch and on more than 45 state, local and volunteer boards. He also has been deputy assistant secretary of labor. E-mail: jdflorez@comcast.net".