Interest in migrants soars

In sunshine or rain, Utahns buy 50-cent tacos from downtown street vendors who can't prove they are in this country legally. Homeowners don't ask questions when they hire day workers off the corner to hang wallboard, lay concrete or landscape their property.

School officials count hundreds in their student populations whose parents came here for the promise of work and a better life. And in industries where their labor is cheap and necessary, some Utah employers turn a blind eye to false documents and fake Social Security cards these adults carry.

About 85,000 illegal immigrants live and work among Utah residents. Among this population, mostly from Mexico, are dairy farmers, truck drivers, students, business owners and construction workers. They clean office buildings, bus tables and change hotel sheets.

And after years of tacit acceptance of this undocumented population, Utahns have renewed interest in the immigration issue. With discussion of reform hot in the halls of the nation's Capitol and on the cover of every newspaper, a flurry of activity on several fronts demonstrates Utah's interest in the controversial subject.

Tony Yapias, a native of Peru and director of Proyecto Latino de Utah, said immigration reform has become the most talked about issue in the Latino community in his 26 years in Utah.

Consider events of recent weeks:

• This past week, hundreds of mostly Latino students skipped Utah classes to join tens of thousands of students in school walkouts nationwide as the U.S. Senate debated immigration reform. Alicia Basto was among them.

The 12-year-old West Valley girl is a native-born U.S. citizen whose parents are undocumented. "I've got to stand up for my parents, for my people," she said. "We came here to live a better life. We want to stay here. . . . We do all the work here. Quite frankly, America needs us."

• Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. told reporters at his monthly televised news conference Thursday, "You can't simply wish people away." He has proposed reforms that would give undocumented workers a way to become citizens. "When you say, 'Let's simply send people back to their home,' well, where is their home?" Huntsman said.

• After arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court last week, the fate of longtime Utah resident Bert Fernandez-Vargas rests with this country's highest court. Deported to Mexico 18 months ago, he is challenging the merits of a law that could impact thousands of illegal immigrants seeking to stay in the country.