Latinos get update on legislation

Worried about a spate of proposed legislation cracking down on undocumented immigrants, about 75 members of Utah's Latino community gathered Saturday night to learn what they're up against.

The meeting was held at Centro Civico Mexicano, where a list of the bills was projected on a screen set up under a basketball hoop. The list was in English but the night's discussion was in Spanish, led by Proyecto de Latino de Utah director Tony Yapias, who went through the bills one by one.

Less than a week into the 2008 legislative session, three of the bills have already made some headway. Despite his concern, Yapias was also upbeat, reminding the crowd that "we should be proud that Utah was the first state to have a driving privilege card and in-state tuition" for undocumented students, he said.

Audience members spoke about what they felt were the unintended consequences of several of the bills, including HB241, which would repeal the in-state tuition law.

"We need to make the Legislature understand that it will make it harder for our children to get an education, and that will cause more crime and gangs," said one woman.

Passage of HB239, which would take away driving privilege cards for all undocumented workers, would lead to thousands of undocumented workers driving without insurance and car registration, Yapias predicted. "And that puts everyone in danger."

Yapias used the evening as a chance to encourage parents to teach their children to behave responsibly, to always be "calm and respectful" if they're ever stopped by a policeman for a traffic violation, and to buy car insurance if they are among the 24 percent of driving privilege card holders currently without insurance.

Salt Lake County Assessor Lee Gardner, who testified Friday before the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee against HB237 — which would allow certain state or local law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents, told the Centro Civico audience that he tried to get legislators to understand that "most people come here to work and take care of their families."

Passage of HB237, several audience members said, would discourage people from calling the police in domestic violence situations, or when they are in an auto accident, for fear of being deported.

Other immigration bills before the 2008 Legislature would force employers to verify the immigration status of all workers, using a free federal online system, and would prohibit a person from using false documents to establish U.S. legal status.

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com