Ex-legislator pushes immigration reform

A former Utah County state lawmaker has organized a coalition to correct what he says are flaws in Utah's laws affecting undocumented immigrants.

Matt Throckmorton, who previously served as a Republican from Springville in the Utah Legislature, held a press conference this week to announce the formation of Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.

Specifically, the bipartisan group is seeking changes in five areas Throckmorton says foster bad public policy.

Throckmorton wants the state to repeal provisions that allow undocumented workers to obtain drivers' licenses and get "in-state" rates for higher education tuition.

In addition, Throckmorton said loopholes in the "Motor Voter" act inadvertently could facilitate voter registration of illegal immigrants.

"It's a very sensitive issue," Throckmorton told the Deseret Morning News. "Other states have been rife with election fraud after thousands of illegal aliens registered to vote. We don't want to see that here in Utah."

Throckmorton said the "matricula consular" card, which the Salt Lake Mexican consulate issues to Mexican nationals in Utah, should also not be accepted by state agencies as valid identification. The card, at this point, is already accepted by the state driver license division for purposes of identification.

Throckmorton said he plans to work with cities and counties to urge "deputizing" police officers as federal immigration enforcement agents to deal with criminal offenders here illegally.

That plan was pursued five years ago by then Salt Lake Police Chief Ruben Ortega but scrapped after community complaints.

Throckmorton said the new group will lobby the Legislature to make the changes. He already has appeared before one legislative committee addressing the driver's license issue because he says it poses risks to national security.

Theresa Martinez, a University of Utah associate professor of sociology, said the reforms Throckmorton seeks are alarmingly punitive.

"That's just scary," she said. "It is unfortunate they feel they need to take up this cause. I know many Utahns might resent people from a foreign country who they say are stealing our jobs. But the reality is that they do the grunt work in this state and they're not paid well for it. And they do it because they need to survive."

Martinez said top officials at the university and Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, worked hard to implement the in-state tuition policy for undocumented immigrants. Gov. Mike Leavitt has endorsed the policy, which allows qualified students without green cards to pay resident tuition at Utah state colleges rather than the more costly nonresident fees.

"It was important because there were obviously qualified students who would have benefited from a university education. And the thing that was holding them back was their immigration status. I am distraught that someone would want to take this possibility away from them."

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