Accompanied by an attorney suing Kansas over a similar law there, the U. students told lawmakers they were considering a lawsuit here. The students recently decided to try to work with university officials before making a final decision on a lawsuit.

A federal judge recently dismissed the Kansas suit, saying the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. Co-counsel Kris Kobach said he plans to appeal that decision to the 10th Circuit Appeals which also oversees Utah.

Kobach's key argument is that the tuition waiver violates a federal law that doesn't allow states to give tuition benefits to illegal immigrants that aren't available to U.S. citizens, regardless of residency.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Evans said Utah's law complies with federal law because it's equally available to U.S. citizens, and is based on where a student went to high school, not residency.

Utah's law was in anticipation of the DREAM Act, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, which didn't pass. The act would give some undocumented high school graduates a way to legalize their status, through means such as continuing their education or joining the military.

Hatch's spokesman Adam Elggren said the senator is planning to reintroduce the DREAM Act, as part of comprehensive immigration reform or as an independent bill.

Armando Solorzano, associate professor in the U.'s department of consumer and family studies, said immigrants — documented and undocumented — seem to be losing ground in Utah, and the nation.

"I feel we are losing our sense of history, our sense of purpose in the U.S.," Solorzano said. "I remember when immigration was a virtue."

Solorzano said things have changed since he wrote a chapter on Utah for the new book, "Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants Changing America."

The book examines five states, including Utah, considered "new settlement states" during the 1990s. Over the decade, Utah's foreign-born population boomed, growing from 58,600 to nearly 159,000.

Solorzano said Utah's immigrants have seen both gains and losses in recent years. In 2002 the state Legislature approved HB144. Now, it's being reconsidered. Lawmakers also granted illegal immigrants a way to get a Utah driver license. In the last session, they were replaced with driving privilege cards that can't be used for ID.

Provisions like drivers' licenses make it easier for immigrants to blend in and acclimate, Solorzano said, noting that anyone with a driver's license stopped by an officer would be judged on their traffic violation, not their immigration status.

Solorzano said if the students using HB144 were to be denied their education, "for me it's a waste of human potential."

Alex Segura of the Utah Minuteman Project and Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement is among those working to repeal benefits for illegal immigrants — including in-state tuition and driving privilege cards.

Segura agreed that such laws make it easier for illegal immigrants, which is why he wants them repealed.

"It's sort of a new immigration policy. It scoffs at our laws," he said. In the case of the students, Segura said, "that's a hard thing. . . . I understand the situation their parents created for them."

But he said creating exceptions to the law, in general, is dangerous.

"We have laws that need to be obeyed," he said. "Without laws we'd have anarchy."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com