Undocumented residents could then earn the right to hold a work permit for two or three years, he said. "The work permit then is passage to a green card, the green card is then passage to U.S. citizenship."

He also expressed empathy for children born to undocumented immigrants. Youngsters shouldn't be penalized because they were part of a family that was searching for a better opportunity.

"A lot of these kids were either born here or certainly were not in a position in their earlier lives to have any influence over the outcome of their journey," he said.

"They were brought here. Does that mean we disregard them and we kind of cancel them out from achieving the American dream?

Huntsman also hopes Mexico will continue to do its part to solve the flow of residents from south of the border.

In Huntsman's recent talks with Mexican officials, President Vicente Fox outlined economic development efforts he says will bring 500,000 to 1 million new jobs a year to Mexico.

Some in the anti-immigration movement do not like Huntsman's coziness with the vast country that begins 500 miles south of Utah.

"Jon Huntsman Jr. is public enemy No. 1," Minuteman Alex Segura said at an August rally. "I'm going to try everything to derail Huntsman's efforts."

But the governor says he's not trying to be an apologist for Mexico. Officials there seem to be doing their best to discourage the flow of people moving out of Central America and broader Latin America to Mexico, he says.

"They will tell you they turn away 300,000 to 500,000 per year, primarily from Central America," the governor said. "And if Mexico doesn't turn them back, they come right through porous borders right into the U.S."

One of the most important tenets of Utah and the nation is a sense of "openness," Huntsman said. " . . . An openness to ideas, openness to goods and services, an openness to people.

"That's who we are as a country. It's what we've always been. I think it will long be a part of our foundation."

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E-mail: lucy@desnews.com