There are practical concerns as well. Where are the illegal students going to work when they graduate? Should the state perpetuate the problem and promote additional illegal behavior? As recent headlines suggest, nothing good comes from ignoring our laws.

The United States has accepted people from all over the world, but immigrants have always honored our laws, learned to value our system of government and our underlying culture and worked hard to be assimilated. The United States can survive many languages, but it cannot survive just two. This is not racist, it is a fact. A belief in a melting pot may be considered naive, but it is what has kept this nation together and made this country great. Language is a great unifier.

The Deseret Morning News editorial board should work to change the law rather than disparage so many good citizens in my district who want the current immigration laws enforced. I pledged to represent the views of my district, and that is what I intend to do.

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Christopher N. Herrod is the District 62 representative in the Utah House of Representatives.