When it comes to immigration reform, Congress should relinquish some control to regions or states, says Peter Schuck, an immigration policy specialist and law professor at Yale University.

That includes the power to manage employment visas and enforce employment law, says Schuck, who is Simeon E. Baldwin professor of law at Yale. Schuck will be in Salt Lake City Wednesday to discuss presidential candidates' proposals for immigration reform.

"I'm urging Congress to provide more leeway so states can have more leeway," he said. "There's this shadow hanging over state legislation. It's called federal pre-emption."

He said that as states mold patchworks of their own rules, they have to comply with federal law, and many of the local laws are "of doubtful constitutionality."

Shuck's Salt Lake presentation is a Social Summit hosted by the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. It will be at 5 p.m. at Squatters Restaurant, 147 W. 300 South.

"Immigration reform affects us all locally and nationally, and Professor Schuck's expert commentary and direct exchange with local community leaders will help inform our views and policies," said U. law college dean Hiram Chodosh in a statement.

Shuck said one area that would particularly help would be the ability for states or regions to decide for themselves which industries are in most need of work visas.

"It would be more sensitive and much more responsive in terms of the time it takes to identify people and get visas," he said. "It would be much more responsive to the priorities of each region."

Still, all in all, compared to other nations, the United States is doing pretty well on immigration, he said. That's one of several current topics that's covered in the soon-to-be-released book "The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation," which Schuck co-edited.

However, Schuck said, "We're clearly doing very badly in terms of family stability" and on the percentage of the population that's incarcerated.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com