Cannon tackles 'immigration crisis'

U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon says the nation is facing an "immigration crisis" and needs to document an estimated 12 million workers who are here illegally.

"We are burdened with out-of-date, broken policies that have created America's current problem," Cannon, R-Utah, said Tuesday, addressing the Salt Lake Chamber. "In our post-9/11 environment, it is simply not acceptable to have that many people living and working in the shadows where terrorists and criminals can hide."

Cannon, who is running for re-election in the 3rd Congressional District, is sponsoring a bill that would reform the nation's temporary agricultural worker visa, known as H2A.

Cannon said his proposal does not equate to amnesty. It would allow an estimated 300,000 undocumented agricultural workers to apply for renewable three-year work visas and would make it easier for agricultural employers to hire overseas workers using the H2A program. It would also allow workers who meet its work requirements over six years to apply for permanent residency.

The House bill has 103 co-sponsors. The Senate version has 56 co-sponsors, and Cannon said it needs 60 to come to the floor.

Critics, such as Cannon's Republican opponent Matt Throckmorton, say steps need to be taken to close the borders to illegal immigrants, not to help them.

"It's unfortunate that our congressman doesn't understand the difference between legal and illegal," Throckmorton said. "We cannot offer any type of amnesty to those who came here illegally.

"There are 5 million people wanting to come here legally," he said.

The district's Democratic candidate, Beau Babka, could not be reached for comment.

The congressional race has also drawn the attention of national pro-borders groups, such as the Coalition for Future American Workers. That group has sponsored a radio ad that says two of the orchestrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing were here under H2A and working as taxi drivers.

Cannon, who has not heard the ad, said he'd characterize much of the ad's accusations as "true but highly distorted."

He said many immigrants who weren't farm workers lied to gain amnesty under the 1986 law that President Ronald Reagan signed, and he believed that the two terrorists were among those.

Cannon said a lot of intense emotion surrounds illegal immigration, which has happened in waves throughout the nation's history.