One of Utah's most vocal activists against illegal immigration is stepping down as leader of the Utah Minuteman Project to take a new approach in his cause.

Alex Segura wants to work directly with Utah Republican Party delegates to craft a party platform on illegal immigration. The move, he said, is partly due to an immigration overhaul bill before Congress that would give most of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants a way to earn legal status.

"A lot of folks are really upset about this Senate bill," Segura said. "We want to bring the old school Republicans together on this issue."

To that end, Segura is forming the Utah Immigration Delegation. As an individual, he's also hoping that the state's Republican delegates will adopt a resolution at this weekend's State Organizing Convention against illegal immigrants committing identity theft.

However, he didn't make the deadline to submit it, so he'll have to try to get delegates to vote to amend the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. Segura thinks he has a good chance.

"Utah is not a state that is going to follow lockstep with what the Bush Republican Party wants to do," he said. "We have our own minds, our own ideas, our own opinions about this."

But Michael Clara, vice chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, doubts Segura's resolution or another that is on the agenda will garner much support as the U.S. Senate discusses a compromise bill, which proposes to create a temporary "Z visa" that allows the undocumented who live here now to become legal.

"It's not rewarding, it's not amnesty," Clara said. "It's a pathway to citizenship. It's the law finally catching up with the economic realities of the United States."

An immigration GOP platform plank originally on the agenda has been removed — platform changes will be considered at next year's state GOP convention.

Because of convention rules, in order for a resolution to be considered it will need both a quorum and a two-thirds majority vote before it can be debated, said Enid Green, party chairwoman.

"I don't think the delegates have consensus on it, any more than the rest of the public," Green said. "Anything I can see coming out of the convention would be less than perfect and not by unanimous vote."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com