Illegal immigration was clearly the focus of Hatch's concern. Blanding Mayor Toni Turk told Hatch the local police department had arrested several illegal immigrants and confiscated nearly 7 kilos of cocaine.

It is clear, Hatch said, that illegal smuggling has shifted to rural highways and byways where the level of law enforcement is perceived to be not nearly as intense as along the U.S.-Mexican border. Aggravating the problem is that Utah immigration issues are dealt with out of San Francisco, some 650 miles away.

"The immigration problems facing San Francisco are very different from the problems facing St. George, Blanding, Richfield, Cedar City, Provo and Salt Lake, and that is precisely why I would like to see a new field office director located in Utah," Hatch told his colleagues.

The committee chairman pledged during the floor debate to work with Hatch to address the immigration problems in rural Utah.

---

E-mail: spang@desnews.com; wleonard@desnews.com