Reader comments
Don't buy Hickman's ploy

I would love to know who the "we" are constantly referred to by these type of Deseret News editorials which go against the majority of Utahns with regards to illegal immigration. While I'm sure the editors in their ivory towers enjoy blurring the difference between legal and illegal immigration, the rest of us don't buy it.

Perhaps you believe your own press, which seems to dictate obfuscation when it comes to revealing the names and legal status of many of the crimes committed by illegal aliens.

Your paper ran story after story about the questionable study conducted by the University of Utah last year which allegedly showed the illegal aliens benefit the State of Utah. Yet a more recent and better researched report published by Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies which showed illegal aliens live in poverty and use more resources than they pay in taxes was totally ignored.

Utah is currently a Mecca for illegal aliens mainly due to several policies which blatantly violate Federal immigration law with regards to in-state tuition and driving licenses. Every time an attempt is made to rectify this situation this Editorial board is quick to condemn the act and actor.

It's obvious who the "we" refers to. It's the writers of the opinion.

Also, simply because the majority believe something doesn't make it right. For example, the majority of Americans supported the Chinese Exclusion Act which targeted a specific nationality and denied them the right to immigrate. That act was immoral and those who broke it, while lawbreakers, were good people while those who supported it were immoral.

I am glad this editorial board stands up to oppose immoral laws. You probably go to Church and pretend to be a good person when in truth you are as bad as the racists who came before you who used all the same arguments you now use on every immigrant group that has come here. You would have us believe you aren't even though we know their motive was racism.

The Slovaks, the Irish, the Chinese, etc had the same said of them. Bur of course you would have us believe that their racist motives are not yours. Tell me why "they should be illegal." Don't tell me the law is the law and therefore the law should be enforced. The law is wrong and should be repealed.

Just a note folks: if you disagree with the News editorial don't complain to them. Call or email your state senator, legislator, and the governor. Today.

The folks at the News are mostly hopeless - but this next legislative session will be in an election year.

Your editorial is completely nuts. I lived in South Texas for many years and employed both legal and illegal farm workers. They were great workers who were only interested in making money and sending it back to their families in Mexico. I know more about the illegal immigartion situation than you will ever know.

What don't you understand about "illegal"? It used to be a minor problem because there were only a relative few of them. Now they are and economic disaster, a significant financial drain on the economy in several states.

Hickman's bill may not be the best one, but something has to be done to get the government's attention of the ongoing disaster. Instead of critizing Hickman's bill, why don't you use your collective intelligence(?) and come up with a better answer? It is simple and I would supply it to you, but frankly I don't think you are smart enough to understand it.

Hickman is right on target buy it, the public likes it.

Center for Immigration Studies is a right-wing racist organization. The founder is an adamant no-growth fanatic that would take away your right to have more than one child if he could find a way to do it. I'm one of the majority of Utahns who see these immigrants as hard working law-abiding citizens who have been instrumental in the recent growth of this state. They pay social security taxes that they can never reclaim, they pay income taxes and cannot file for refund of over pay, they pay sales tax, gas tax, and even property tax through their rent yet they are denied government services and attacked as criminals.

If the anti-immigrant people would get out of the house more they would find real things to worry about. Most Utahns are not so scared of brown people that they want to destroy our economy to get rid of them. Mutilating yourself to spite someone else is stupid.

Congratulations on a fine, measured editorial. This kind of thinking will move us toward productive engagement with the issues of immigration. As we celebrate the labor and energy and culture of Latino immigrants (like we've learned to do with Italian and Irish and German and Chinese immigrants), we'll flourish.

When we let the Savages and Tancredos and Dobbs and Romneys and Hickmans set us against each other, we'll produce the very things we're most afraid of.

I won't claim to be in the majority of Utahns, because I don't know how everyone else "sees" things. But I hope that the majority of Utahns aren't as confused as "Yes We" seems to be. "Yes We" talks about "immigrants" but is clearly describing illegal immigrants (paying social security that they can't reclaim, etc). I hate to break it to "Yes We" but illegal immigrants, by definition, are neither law-abiding nor citizens. And by the laws of this country, they ARE criminals.

I also don't claim that all illegal aliens are bad people. I, myself, may have followed a similar course, for the good of my family, if I had been placed in a similar situation. In some ways I see them as victims of our country's broken immigration system, which seems to embrace the "don't ask, don't tell" philosophy. But none of this means that the system shouldn't be fixed, or that our laws shouldn't be, or begin to be, enforced.

I'm tired of the blurring of the line between legal and illegal, there is a big difference. And I'm tired of anyone differentiating between legal and illegal being labeled as a racist.

The LDS Church is very pro-immigration which explains the positions that the DMN takes on immigration. With the bulk of its growth occurring in Latin America, the Church cannot afford to upset leaders down there.

If Utah became known as anti-immigrant, the Church's missionary efforts would be harmed. I don't like it, but that's the way it is folks.

This editorial is an outrage. What part of the word "illegal" does "we" not get? Illegal = crime = against the law = violates the constitutional premise of law and order. What is a country if it doesn't have a border?

I've lived in what used to be California. I've seen the holes at the border. Just wait until Utah is as overrun as California and Arizona. It is a wholesale invasion which has devastated the environment, schools, medical care and entire communities - and increased Utah's population as Californians flee their state.

As for racist - I really believe that all the smug, self-righteous "we's" out there know we are not racist. They throw out that word to silence their opposition. Those of us for border security know it is a lie and we will not be silenced nor intimidated by this false label.

The writer reveals this hometown notion that Utah is somehow morally superior to the rest of the nation, therefore our bleeding hearts need to bleed more profusely than other states. Throwing in Utah's self-righteousness does not bolster this shameful view that we need to roll out the red carpet for criminals.

Center for Immigration Studies is a LEFT-wing racist group. Population control is not a right-wing position.

Another scud fired by editor Cannon backing up his brother. Look at the past editorial opinions of this newspaper. Virtually all pro illegal immigration. If a person thinks that illegal immigrants shouldn't be here, they are now branded racist by the D-news. You are comparing apples and oranges by comparing immigrants who entered this country by legal means and those who enter illegally. There are millions of immigrants world wide from Africa, southeast Asia and hundreds of other countries in the world who place their names in a lottery to be one of 50,000 folks who are allowed to enter the country and begin naturalization. Just because Mexico shares a border with us this justifies the millions that have crossed illegally? People who come to this country on an illegal premise have no reason to be law abiding, i.e. fleeing the scene of traffic accidents, commiting crimes and running south. Your editorial is outrageous and short sighted.

Congratulations on a well-written and reasoned editorial on this issue. We need balanced immigration reform. This is a national problem and requires a national solution. State efforts, like Hickman's, waist time and detract from our common humanity.

I was looking for controversy in Hickman's ideas. I found none. They all make sense to me.

Illegals shouldn't be allowed benefits reserved for the law abiding citizenry for the same reason felons are denied such benefits--because they're not abiding by the law.

Police aren't supposed to keep law and order at the local level? Since when?

It would be good for the Deseret News' editors to explain why they want a section of society to not be held subject to current law. But, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting.

++++++++This editorial has to be one of the most blatantly anti-immigrant piece I've ever read. The people most harmed by the influx of illegal aliens are the law-abiding legal immigrants who built this country. I've met many legal immigrants who have played by the rules their entire lives, paying outrageous fees and jumping through hoops as they havigated the legal immigraiton system.

Many of them are very frustrated by special amnesties and privileges being offered to the criminals who have made a conscious decision to violate our laws. One of my friends spent 10 years converting his student visa into permanent residency.

Another family friend in California is a legal immigrant from Jamaica who owns a small grocery store. He is constantly dealing with grafitti, burgalry and street shootings all brought in by the illegal Hispanic gangs that the Deseret News is so proud of.

I've been taught my entire life that LDS people were supposed to sustain the laws of the land. Yet, the Deseret News and by extension, LDS church seem to want anarachy. Perhaps it's good for business, since the Deseret News can now report on shootings, rapes, drug busts, etc.. almost daily now.

So many folks on here suggest that by targeting their animosity toward illegal immigrants, they can evade the implications of racism and irrational fear. Not so.

Keep in mind that even if we only targeted the "illegals," who crossed the border without waiting in an immigration line that has reached a virtual standstill, we would still be shooting ourselves in the foot.

Estimates of ILLEGALS (not hispanics, illegals) suggest that if they were to all leave Utah tomorrow it would be the equivalent of 14 of Utah's 29 counties instantly having a population of zero.

How would that benefit Utah's economy?

The only racisim I've read in these forums seems to be coming from the illegal alien supporters. They're acting as if they believe Hispanics cannot possibly follow the law, and we must lower the expectations for them to overcome this defect. That's an extremly racist attitude to have towards Hispanics.

I personally believe they are every bit as capable of following the law as anybody else. All people should be treated equally under the law.

I am always amused at the ignorance of such reporters, I am offended however at their crass deceit and desire to promote the breach of the rule of law and the resultant anarchy. This is a republic and we have laws and a means to change law. If foolis reporters believe that the majority support such views then it should be easy to get the law ammended, right? Sadly they have an agenda and will lie and manipulate facts to achieve their agenda. Any LDS member who supports illegal immigration needs to actually familiarize themselves with the principles of the LDS church.

I oppose illegal immigration for the following reasons...

1: It is illegal
2: There are thousands of citizens who fall prey daily to criminal acts of illegals.
3: Social costs are transferred from employers to the taxpayer to the tune of $19000 a year per illegal family.
4: There are americans who will do the work...simply pay them a livable wage.
5: Unwillingness to assimilate
6: Mexico needs to fix their mess (Majority of illegals are Mexican0

I wish to be humane to the american people rather than to illegals as this is OUR country.

The DesNews and other ivory tower elites just LOVE to blur the line between legal and illegal aliens. I wish they would simply be honest enough to openly advocate for an open border and totally uncontrolled immigration. It is clearly what they want.

And why do they focus on hispanics? So far as I know, Hickman's bill does NOT mention ethnicity nor race at all. It focuses only on the legal status of the person in question. Of course, when one realizes the vast majority of illegal aliens are hispanic and that upwards of 50% of the hispanics in this State are illegal aliens, maybe we should start to ask about culture and how it affects a willingness to obey basic laws and rules.

Why is it so hard to understand that WE want the laws enforced; that WE want US Citizens, not foreign criminals to set US immigration policy; and that WE want the laws enforced?

I do not want socialized medicine, nor more welfare, nor ever high taxes. I do not want a national ID card. I want a secure border. And I want illegal aliens encouraged to go home, NOT pandered to.