"Our community standards are different than those in Salt Lake City," McArthur said. "People move here because of that. St. George is held up to a higher standard."

Capon said she has already received several letters on the issue.

"Our standards are very high. I would not support that," she said.

Problems associated with illegal immigration are difficult to tackle, the mayor said.

"Would we rather be working on putting criminals, sex offenders and drug addicts behind bars, or would we rather put somebody in jail that is working and taking care of their family?" he asked. "I'm not sure how to solve that, but it is an issue that we need to talk about."

Capon said much of the problem would be solved if people would stop hiring illegal aliens.

"If we hire illegals we're supporting them," she said. "It's not fair to them or the people who hire them."

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com