Rep. Jason Chaffetz seeks tough approach on illegal immigration

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced on Thursday a resolution, backed by several other House freshmen, calling for Congress to get tough on illegal immigration.

"Any discussion of comprehensive immigration reform must begin with a renewed commitment to enforce our immigration laws," Chaffetz said.

He made illegal immigration a key campaign issue in 2008 when he upset former Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and attracted national attention when he suggested using tent cities to hold illegal aliens to cut costs and help increase enforcement.

His resolution calls for Congress to follow three main components as it addresses immigration reform: reject any amnesty for illegal immigrants now in the country; beef up resources to secure the border; and require all employers to use E-Verify to ensure that their workers are in the country legally.

"We need to remove the incentives that encourage illegal behavior if we expect to get immigration under control," Chaffetz said.

He also told the Deseret News that "no amnesty means to me that we're not simply going to excuse them and allow them to stay here in the country. Will we listen to discussion and proposals (about possibly imposing fines or work requirements to stay in country)? Of course. But no amnesty."

The resolution is called the Bipartisan Reform of Immigration through Defining Good Enforcement (BRIDGE) Resolution.

It was cosponsored at introduction by 21 other House freshmen, including 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Chaffetz said he will seek cosponsorships beyond freshmen now that the resolution has been introduced.

This story was reported from Salt Lake City.

e-mail: lee@desnews.com