Deseret News candidate questionnaire: GOP challenger Jason Chaffetz

1 — Please give — point by point — your solution to the U.S. illegal immigration problem?

▪ FIX LEGAL IMMIGRATION

▪ REJECT AMNESTY

▪ LOCK DOWN THE BORDER, ENFORCE VISAS

▪ HAVE THE POLITICAL WILL TO ENFORCE THE CURRENT LAWS

▪ GET RID OF REWARDS & INCENTIVES TO BE HERE ILLEGALLY

▪ GIVE BUSINESS THE TOOLS & ALIGN FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

▪ INSIST ON ASSIMILATION (English should be the official language of the United States of America)

2 — What specifically should be done about the 12 million or so illegal immigrants who are now in the United States?

"We need a pathway to deportation. To facilitate this pathway to deportation, we should allow people currently here illegally to come forward and apply for a short-term work visa if done in conjunction with a sponsoring legal business. The visa will be for a specified time. At the conclusion of the visa, the illegal immigrant must return to his or her country of origin, or face serious criminal consequences.

"This should be a limited-time offer and any adult person identified without this application in process should be detained and deported. This will allow us to identify illegal immigrants and uniformly return them to their country of origin while allowing a legal workforce, with proper documentation and background checks, to enter the country in a uniform fashion."

3 — Do you favor or oppose some kind of pathway to legal status for the current illegal immigrants?

"For those here illegally, the ONLY pathway to U.S. citizenship is to go home to their country of origin and apply from there. Period. However, fixing our legal immigration process is critical. Those who apply legally, the way we want them to, should be able to get a timely answer. The process of immigrating legally should not stretch out for decades as it does now."

4 — Utah has a state law that allows children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition to public colleges and universities. Do you favor or oppose that law? And do you believe Congress should pass a similar law?