Legislators in Utah push illegals fight

Frustrated over an apparently stalled federal debate, some Utah lawmakers are taking an election year stand with state-level proposals aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

Some of those ideas include holding employers accountable for hiring illegal immigrants, requiring proof of citizenship or legal status to receive state services and sending illegal immigrants convicted of crimes to privatized prisons.

There will also likely be renewed efforts to repeal a law granting in-state tuition to some undocumented college and university students, and another law that allows illegal immigrants

to drive and obtain insurance using a driving privilege card.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. hasn't yet been briefed on the new proposals but will evaluate each on its own merits, said Mike Mower, the governor's spokesman. Huntsman continues to support keeping the tuition law and the driving privilege card in place, Mower said.

The illegal immigration issue has taken center stage in House District 46, where both candidates are advocating a hard line on immigration.

Incumbent Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Cottonwood Heights, originally supported granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants but has now changed her vote, which could make her the lone lawmaker in her party with an anti-tuition vote.

She's also looking at proposals similar to some of those passed by lawmakers recently in Colorado. One of those requires people to show identification to access state services and another calls for the state attorney general to sue the federal government over inaction on immigration reform.

"As it is now, the federal government is doing nothing," Morgan said. "When we have a federal government doing nothing, I feel a responsibility as a legislator to look into the issue and see what can be done."

Her Republican opponent, Robyn Bagley, promises to take a tough stand when it comes to illegal immigration, if elected.

"Definitely we have got to repeal in-state tuition" for undocumented students, she said. "We have got to make employers accountable . . . non-emergency medical care should not be covered."

Morgan said she'd like to see bipartisan support behind any illegal-immigration measures, but House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, said while he hadn't talked to Morgan about the proposals, he's also not aware of any other Democrats shifting their positions.