But current polls have shown increasing support for measures that would get tough on illegal immigration, and this is one of them.

A recent Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll conducted by Dan Jones and Associates found that 63 percent of Utahns polled opposed allowing undocumented students to pay a lower rate; 33 percent supported the tuition rate.

This year, bills dealing with illegal immigration directly, and indirectly through identity theft, are already working their way through the legislative process, and Karen Crompton, co-chairwoman of Utahns for the American Dream, says fighting the repeal may be tougher this year than it was last year when it narrowly died in a tied House vote, with a key supporter absent.

Crompton says HB241 particularly is about the potential of children and hopes that lawmakers will see it that way.

"There's a level of frustration that didn't exist last year ... ," she said. "We have to hope that even if the House passes it, the Senate will not.

Elizabeth was 16 years old when she discovered she couldn't get a job because she had no Social Security number. "I was told I can't have a job. I'm not allowed to."

She's lived in Utah since she was 4 years old. Her parents had visas when they moved here from Great Britain to open a business, says her mother, Jean. Both now hold green cards they received about two years ago after their adult U.S. citizen son sponsored them. But, Elizabeth and her younger sister weren't included.

That's because when a U.S. citizen sponsors a parent's green card, they must do a separate application for any siblings, even if they're children, said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"They don't ride together," Garcia-Upson said. "The parents, once they get an alien registration card, can turn around and petition for their sons and daughters."

However, Jean has trouble holding back tears as she describes her discovery, about a year ago, of her daughters' situation when she wanted to apply for their green cards.

"Our attorney told us do not, under any circumstances, do that," she says. "It would put them in too high risk of a situation."

There was a fear of deportation because her daughters would be over 18 before their visas would be processed, and there's generally a 10-year bar on re-entry to the United States for adults who live here for more than a year illegally, according to CIS, though there is the possibility of waiver.

U.S. citizens can sponsor their minor children without a wait. There is, however, a year-long wait for permanent residents who wish to do so because of the limited number of visas available each year.

The latest visa bulletin shows for most countries a five-year wait for unmarried minor children of permanent residents to get their green cards. Once those children turn 21, the wait increases to eight years. The wait for a U.S. citizen to sponsor a sibling is just over a decade.

"It is frustrating," Jean says. "I've tried everything. There isn't any help unless there is immigration reform."

So, for now, Elizabeth is limited to volunteer work in areas such as lifeguarding. Her frustration at being unable to help support herself is apparent.

"My parents have to pay," she says. "It really bothers me. The whole growing up thing wanting to do stuff on your own, and I can't."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com