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Law on illegal immigration touted

The critics will all scream "racist!" but there is nothing wrong about demanding that everyone obey the laws, including immigration laws.
If some people are allowed to violate immigration laws, please tell me which laws I can violate. Can I quit paying taxes? Ignore traffic laws? Become a polygimist? Steal my neighbor's car? Either everyone obeys all the laws, or there is no point having any of them.
Thank you, Senator Hickman for daring to do the right thing and help end this rampant crime wave of illegal immigration.

This will make for a very intersting expirement in economics. While we all agree that our laws need to be enforced, if this law passes and Utah gets the same result as other cities and states, we will also see a dip in our economy.

It would be great if the Senator would also create a working migrant worker visa to put into his bill. There are actually several things that could help this along but I worry a real ham-handed approach will have dramatic affect on both sides: dramatically drop the number and scope of illegal immigration, and with no visa solution dramatically hit our already very wobbly economy.

Who knows.

Good bill. I hope it passes. But I'm not so certain our liberal governor will sign it.

You can almost smell the lawsuits. And as another commenter has rightly said, you can also forsee the economic downturn. So, more state tax dollars to defend against lawsuits and to provide social services when the economy begins to tank. Sounds like a great bargain, all to support a fringe political agenda to attack illegal immigrants in the absence of a functioning or sufficient legal immigration system.

I agree with James and Watcher. The reality is that many, many Utah businesses, including small businesses rely on immigrant labor. This is one issue that Bush (and the normally inept Cannon)have been right on. We need a pragmatic working migrant bill. I hope our legislators are smart enough to realize that any immigrant bill they pass will do more harm than good. This needs to be addressed on the national level.

Immigration is a LOT like accidental pregnancy:

It is going to happen!!!!

Like procreation, seeking a better life for oneself and one's family is pretty much hard-wired.

Passing laws and building walls ain't gonna work any better than "just say no."

Please please please, someone in government begin addressing the issue as it actually exists.

Don't continue the idiotic game of casting it in black & white terms such as good v. bad, us v. them, humans v. "illegals."

Is that asking too much?????

It's a sad state of affairs that each state must now do this for themselves, but it MUST be done !
Our nation is a nation of laws that must be obeyed.
If we continue to allow illegals to get through the cracks, our society will be completely changed in the next generation. It will be the ruin of American society as we know it.
Thanks you Rep Hickman !!

This issue has been talked about for many months. One thing that is paramount is the fact that this people did not go through legal channels to enter this country. It is not about one country but any country where people come in without due process and expect this great country to provide benefits that are for citizens of the USA.

If the lawmakers in Washington will not do their jobs, then our state leaders must have laws that force the issue is legal entry into this country.

I totally support our state creating laws such as were enacted Oklahoma.

The illegal immigration problem is not really the fault of the congress. It has been caused by the administration's intentional non-enforcement policy. Since this is the case, state and local governments have no choice but to do their own thing. Those that oppose laws like the one in Oklahoma start with the premise that everyone that is able to sneak into the United States has a right to be here. As for the economics, the major result is depressed wages among the working poor, including the legal immigrants. Wages, like any commodity are determined by supply and demand. Illegal immigration is just short of indentured servitude, with the purpose of maintaining a supply of cheap labor.

In Singapore, if an employer is caught hiring an illegal entrant to the country they could be caned. Nobody wants to be caned. Fines , they can cough up as they are still winning with the low wages they pay and having no need to provide medical or other benefits. Singapore however have an adequate work permit system for all their labor requirements and sufficient controls to manage them. The japanese likewise handle it very well. Perhaps we could learn from these countries. They have an ID system that is foolproof. They say the US goverment cannot handle such huge numbers. I would suggest they talk to the credit card companies.

Exploitation is no less than slavery ( wasn't that fixed in the Constitution ?)

The idea that farmers, landscapers, and construction can�t economically survive without an ability to illegally hire �undocumented workers�at less than minimum wage, isn�t too persuasive to the tax-payers left paying for food-stamps, subsidized housing, medical, education and expanded demands on our criminal justice system. Cheap labor is VERY expensive.

Doug has it right. Anyone paid less than subsistence wage will have to be subsidized by either charity or the government. Even worse is that the cheap labor illegal alien employers are creating a much larger underclass within the United States. This underclass will have to be supported by the taxpayers. This cheap labor really isn't cheap, it is an employer subsidy paid for by the taxpayers.

But Doug doesn't have it right because, in fact, those types of employers are actually paying there employees a pretty good wage ($10-15/hr).

Trust me, I have a little experience in this area as an immigration attorney. I've seen what the "illegals" are making and I have yet to find an undocumented worker who was making less than minimum wage. In fact, most of them make decent money.

Moreover, there is a good chance that any such law passed by a state is unconstitutional since issues of border security are the explicit purview of the Federal Gov't.

I must admit, however, that everytime I read the comments from the immigrant bashers it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to know that I'm helping dozens of undocmented workers to stay here and even get legal.

I think the first step should be to deport Rocky Anderson. I'm sure he will have issues with this and Senator Hickman and use it as a platform for his own personal agenda.

MOST PLACES THAT I HAD WORKED (LANDSCAPING/ CONSTRUCTION) I HAD SEING THAT LEGAL AMERICANS GET PAID WAY MORE THAN AN ILLEGAL ($2 TO $5 DOLLARS MORE). EVEN IF THE ILLEGALS HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR THE SAME PLACE FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS THEY ONLY GET $25 TO $50 CENTS INCRESSE EVERY TWO YEARS IF THEY ARE LUCKY.

Illegals need to be sent home. I'd rather be poorer for it than richer for having illegals here and the result be that I don't even recognize my own country anymore. A temporary workers program is what is in order and who knows who in the goverment is pushing for the citizenship issue over and over. Bought and paid for I suppose like most of our Goverment reps. Can't wait if Hillary gets to be President. I think she is already gathering addresses to donate to the illegals. She seems to have a real thing for them. At their massive march she said (I was watching) "I look at this crowd and I see the future of America. If anyone wonders about her position on illegal immigration, just go back and watch her woo them long before she announced her plan to run for president.

We need an effective immigration law that must be enforced. But it is na�ve to think that we should just deport everyone that is not legal in this country. There�s a place where we can get them by the thousands. But it will be the last place we�ll go! The agricultural sector! Why is that? Because we tried that already, because we complained that illegals were taking our jobs. Then our government started deporting them and they went to the most obvious place where they could get them by the thousands. The agricultural sector. They went and got them by the thousands. And as they started deporting them there was no one to work in the fields. And there were many farmers ready to claim their insurance and get their money back. This would have badly hurt the insurance companies because they could not pay all of them. But before that happened they allowed thousands of immigrants to illegally cross the border so that they could go back to work ASAP. Believe me, I saw hundreds and hundreds come back and no one would stop them. That�s why they were given amnesty in 1986

If we really want to enforce our laws lets not forget our U.S. Custom, because there are thousands of Chinese and many Asian immigrants that illegally cross thru our ports like in L.A. San Francisco and N.Y. to name a few. Who is watching our ports? Customs is not helping to our illegal immigration issue.

We need our Federal Government to act. Or we will be forced to break the law to enforce the laws. Because any law passed by the states will be unconstitutional.

We have a real problem and what we need are real solutions. But amnesty or massive deportations are not the solution we need. UNCLE SAM!!! PLEASE ACT

USA gurl i highly disagree to everything you speak about.if you think about it it is so easy for you to say sense your not the one livingng in the situation and for all you other people.i strongly believe that illegals work really hard labor and dont complain to how much less they get payed, if in mexico we had all the opportunities to a good life i dont think any mexican would bother to sneak into america and put up with all this immigration problem.We are good people and if we left millions of jobs would be on the line.We allow people to come into our country and treat them fair and dont complain or try to kick them out when they try to make a living there do we? well maybe you should think about that.We dont come to america because we want to, we come to seek a better future for our families and people thats all because we dont have that opportunity in mexico and many die and are poor and dint have money to feed their family or children.Thank you

Here is the big picture. We are now third in population behind only India and China. Why use up our resources by taking on the excess population (and all the strife) of other counties. In the case of mexico, which is mostly catholic, that religion encourages lots of children regardless of status. One could then conclude this country in effect providing an outlet for this practice.