Parties skirt controversies

OREM — A resolution that likens illegal immigration to "Satan's plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion" fizzled at the Utah County Republican Convention on Saturday — but not without some political fireworks.

Hearty boos and cheers accompanied debate of the resolution proposed by Don Larsen, a district chairman, who asked the Utah County Republican Party to support "closing our national borders to illegal immigration," but nobody actually voted on the issue.

According to convention rules, at least 70 percent of the delegates who signed in to the convention were required to be present to conduct a vote. Of the 471 delegates who registered at the convention, only 299 were counted when the resolution was presented.

Larsen needed about 30 more people to allow the vote. Some delegates left just before the vote was counted in an effort to sabotage the resolution, Larsen said.

"I think it would have passed if there had been a vote," Larsen said after the meeting.

But not everyone agreed with Larsen's perception of support for the resolution, including Rep. Chris Cannon , R-Utah, who encouraged delegates to stay to discuss the issue.

"I think it was pretty clear from the way people reacted in the audience that, overwhelmingly, (the delegates) opposed (the resolution)," Cannon said. "The people that spoke in favor of (the resolution) spoke in favor of pieces of it, so that's clearly not the position of the party majority."

Cannon added that Larsen was not re-elected to the State Central Committee this year, although Larsen had served on the committee for several previous years.

According to Larsen, radical liberals, the government of Mexico and "left wing extremists" are "out to destroy America and establish a godless new world order." If the Republican Party does not take a more strict stand against illegal immigration, then America will fail, Larsen says, and Satan will "destroy the freedom of all people."

Some of Utah County's Republican delegates disagreed with Larsen's references to Satan in the discussion of illegal immigration. Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said he agreed with most of the resolution, but added that some of the language in the resolution was divisive and not inspiring.

"We need to give this issue more attention, but this resolution only gives fodder to the liberal media to beat up on the Republican Party," Stephenson said.

Joel Wright, a delegate and City Council member from Cedar Hills, said he disagreed with Larsen's references to religion and condemnation of illegal immigrants in the resolution.