A new, specialized immigration strike force — made up of federal agents and Utah state and local law enforcement — took a step closer to becoming a reality Thursday on passage of HB64 by a House legislative committee on a unanimous vote.

The team would target felony-level crimes related to illegal immigration and human trafficking.

The bill, sponsored by House Majority Whip Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace, is one of several immigration bills under consideration this session that resulted from an interim task force that reviewed immigration issues last summer.

Dee told the committee that one of the recurring themes heard in testimony at hearings the task force held around the state was a concern about major crimes related to immigration.

"The underlying theme that we got … is the biggest issue with illegal immigration is felony crime," Dee said. "That came to the forefront in every one of our meetings."

Under provisions of the bill, the Utah Attorney General's Office would head a multi-agency team comprised of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents along with members of state and local law enforcement agencies.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff attended the committee hearing and testified in support of the bill. Shurt?leff said while immigration enforcement falls under the purview of the federal government, it doesn't keep citizens of Utah from expressing their concerns on the issue to his agency.

"With regard to illegal immigration, in the last 4 or 5 years a huge amount of pressure has been put on our office," Shurtleff said. "When people get frustrated with the feds, the next stop is the Attorney General's Office."

Shurtleff noted that the proposal to form the new team is not an attempt to send a message to the federal government that "we can do it better than they can," but to utilize resources from multiple areas to go after "the most violent criminals."

Dee noted that other multi-agency efforts to target specific areas of criminal activity in the state, like gangs and child pornography, have been very successful.

Participation in the effort will be entirely voluntary on the local level, but those agencies that do devote resources could expect to be compensated out of the $891,000 budget that comes attached to the bill. Committee members questioned Shurtleff as to the adequacy of the funding, which he said could be enhanced by stimulus money the state will receive specified for law enforcement. Preliminary stimulus figures released Thursday outline $15 million in grant money specified for criminal justice issues, though it is unclear what, if any, portion may be dedicated to illegal immigration issues.

University of Utah student Jascha Clark testified against the bill, citing a need for more specific limitations on the focus of the strike force and expressing a concern that it could very well devolve into an effort to just round up people based on their lack of documentation. He also challenged the intent of the special crime team.

"If we're going to have a task force, why focus it on illegal immigration," Clark said. "Why not focus it on dangerous crimes committed by everyone?"

House Minority Leader Rep. David Litvack also noted reservations about the focus of the bill, but did express a regret that a crime-targeting bill like HB64 did not precede, and supplant, the immigration reform bill SB81 that legislators approved in the 2008 session and is due to take effect July 1.

"We should have started with this type of bill," Litvack said.

HB64 will move to the House floor for further consideration.

E-mail: araymond@desnews.com