'A political game'

The politically volatile issue could come up again this year. The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony recently on another comprehensive bill, the STRIVE Act, which would give undocumented immigrants a way to earn legal status, create a new type of work visa and toughen enforcement of immigration laws.

It's also possible that Congress could address the issue in a piecemeal fashion. Among federal proposals is one that would legalize some undocumented agricultural workers; and another would allow certain undocumented youths to achieve legal status through military service or higher education. Another resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would eliminate non-U.S. citizens from the census, when it comes to doling out congressional seats.

The immigration issue can be solved, Cannon says, but "I'm not sure we have the political will to get it done."

Armando Solorzano, associate professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah, says the issue of illegal immigration needs to be addressed in a "very holistic way," but that's not happening.

"Policy doesn't try to solve the problem from the roots. Immigration has just become a political game," he says. "We know we cannot send back 12 million illegal immigrants to their native country. The economy would collapse."

However, many people say such predictions of economic collapse are overblown and point to what they see as social costs of illegal immigration — including depressed wages in low-skilled jobs and overcrowded schools — as the more important issue.

A recent meeting of the Citizens Council on Immigration — a group organized by Jeff Nielsen, a Westminster College philosophy professor to discuss immigration — provided a microcosm of how different people in Utah view the issue.

Wally McCormick, who heads a local group called the Constitution Coalition, is among those who fear illegal immigration is chipping away at the nation's culture and sovereignty and straining American taxpayers.

"The only way to solve the problem is to take away the carrot: free medical care, schooling, jobs," McCormick said at a recent meeting of the council. "The laws are there, we just need to enforce them."

But Barbara Szweda, an immigration attorney for Holy Cross Ministries, contends that the economy needs the immigrants' labor and suggests the answer would be to grant more visas so that people wouldn't need to work illegally.

"What I'd like to see is a change in the law to better reflect the goals of our country, instead of knee-jerk reactions," Szweda says.

Economic needs