Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s office was hit with more than 200 calls about Mexican President Vicente Fox's recent visit to Utah — overwhelmingly opposed to the foreign leader being in the state.

Laurie Lisonbee of Orem sees it as a call from "rank-and-file Utahns" who are concerned about porous borders. Lisonbee was among those who called Huntsman's office, and she also protested at the Capitol.

"I'm disappointed that our Utah elected officials rolled out the red carpet for Fox when he has made so many inflammatory statements to our border policies," Lisonbee said Wednesday. "I don't think he respects the sovereignty of our nation."

A spokeswoman for the governor's office, Lisa Roskelley, said 200 or so calls is "probably on par with other big issues." Still, she said, the number needs to be compared with the hundreds more who attended the invitation-only events held for Fox in Utah.

Some 450 community, political and business leaders went to a luncheon at the Little America Hotel, and more than 800 Mexican-Americans turned out for a gathering at the Utah Cultural Center in West Valley City.

"I don't think it was a huge surprise. People tend to make calls when they disagree with something more often than when they agree," Roskelley said.

Roskelley said calls opposed Fox's 24-hour stay in the state that ended mid-day May 24 outnumbered calls supportive of the visit by 10-to-1. Some of the callers were from outside Utah, she said.

The governor, Roskelley said, "made an effort to show the president there was both support and a lack thereof for the visit." Huntsman escorted Fox to an address of the Utah Legislature past a group of Utah Minutemen gathered at the Capitol.

Joe Reyna, one of the organizers of Fox's visit, doubted that the callers opposed to the Mexican leader represented mainstream public opinion in Utah.

"I wouldn't be surprised if those (callers) are the same people from the Utah Minuteman group," he said.

Reyna said Fox's visit went beyond immigration by bringing international publicity to Utah, opening the door for tourism and economic exchanges.

"It's about the state providing an image to the world that we are open for business," he said. "Unfortunately, one of the things people got to see . . . was the Minutemen. And that is not Utah."

Huntsman acknowledged last week that he had received threats as a result of extending an invitation to the Mexican leader.

The governor declined to detail the threats, but said they were not the subject of a criminal investigation.

Also, Huntsman has said, protesters at the Governor's Mansion during a state dinner for Fox called the governor "mean and nasty names" that were overheard by his wife. Still, he has said he supported the right of opponents to express their viewpoints.

---

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com; dbulkeley@desnews.com