Huntsman must confront Fox on illegal immigration

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s visit to Mexico this month will test his leadership and ability to live up to the principles he espoused at his inauguration. Is he willing to use his political capital for the good of the state and put immigration on the table? Or will the governor, by default, consent to have Utah taxpayers pay for the benefits the business community is reaping from illegal immigration?

Last February, I was singing his praises for being the only state political leader willing to talk about the elephant in the room — immigration. The newly arrived Mexican consul said he could not give his opinion on immigration. The governor had expressed an interest in having the Mexican president, Vicente Fox, visit Utah to bring greater understanding about trade and immigration.

Now, the governor's topics for discussion with Mexican President Fox will be economic development, tourism, trade, and investment between Utah and Mexico. No mention of immigration.

At a time when the problem of illegal immigration is a major issue dividing our community, it looks like he's forgotten his inaugural address commitment that whatever "political capital" he possessed would be used for the "good of the state." Instead, he seems to be more concerned about the needs of business while ignoring the problems facing our people.

While economic development is important, it should be a means for promoting the public good, not just to benefit a special interest group. Immigration is — and always has been — a work force issue and a key part of economic development. It needs to be part of any discussion on that matter. To do otherwise is to compromise the people's interest and the humanitarian principles of our society.

Businesspeople are actively pushing economic development with Mexico, since they see great benefit from immigration, legal and illegal. Business is accelerating the in-migration of Mexicans that are a source of cheap labor and, in many instances, work for no benefits. Business is also eager to capitalize on the skyrocketing Mexican consumer market. The financial community has been especially creative in profiting from the transfer of money to Mexico. While they stood silently by as immigrants lost their state identification cards, they were quick to accept the Mexican matricula card as identification for doing business with the banks.