Reader comments
States taking on illegals legislation

Action Is Past Due | 6:06 a.m. April 27, 2008

State and local governments have come to realize that illegal aliens are a net loss for their economies and taxpayers and that the Federal Government is not going to address the problem.

Everyone, including and especially the illegal aliens themselves, will benefit when existing laws are enforced and new laws address loopholes in existing policies.

Immigration is vital to the health of America, currently it is badly broken.

Action needs to be taken now before the flood of illegal aliens destroys our immigration system and erodes public support for legal immigrants.

(Unfortunately none of the three remaining Presidential candidates has demonstrated a grasp of the nature and severity of the problem or much commitment to addressing it. It seems likely that the only meaningful steps will have to be taken on the State/local level. That is tragic because securing our borders is a Federal responsibility and no matter how hard they try State/local efforts can never be as effective as competent Federal enforcement would be)

Paul | 8:00 a.m. April 27, 2008

Too bad Utah didn't follow Arizona's example. Their laws made it through the legal system and are tough on illegals. Utah, instead, wimped out. I'm not sure there will be any effect on illegals as a result.

Talk about refugees and other legal immigrants is somewhat irrelevent, although we did see a little refugee-on-refugee violence this Spring.

Derailed | 8:49 a.m. April 27, 2008

Here's the Utah timeline.
Step 1 - Mitt withdraws from the race.
Step 2 - LDS Church gets more vocal about their position.
Step 3 - Suddenly the legislature waters down the bills in play.
Step 4 - Utah ends up with nothing except a weak bill that doesn't take effect for 18 months.
Step 5 - Illegals in AZ move north where enforcement is lax.

Comments continue below

uncannygunman | 9:08 a.m. April 27, 2008

The feds need to step in and preempt this mess. Then we can all argue about what the feds should be doing, but at least there will only be one mess rather than 50+.

Lee | 9:41 a.m. April 27, 2008

They should really look at what is happening in Oklahoma. After passing a very strict anti-illegal bill, estimates are that up to 50,000 illegals have left the state. While many states are struggling with rising unemployment rates, the unemployment rates in Oklahoma are actually falling and wages are rising.

Class sizes at public schools are getting smaller and the need to educate children without any English skills is falling as well. Crime rates are also dropping rapidly as the illegal aliens take their gang-banging children with them.

Utah likes to pretend that SB81 was based on Oklahoma law, but by the time the various religious and business groups had their say the resulting bill is nothing more than a facade. Utah will continue to be a beacon to illegal aliens who wish to live without being harassed.

Wimps! | 10:17 a.m. April 27, 2008

Our legislators are a bunch of ignorant wimps. They will not step forward with any meaningful laws that would deal with the Illegals. On top of that the LDS and Catholic Churches are encouraging these lawbreakers to come to Utah.

Edward | 2:34 p.m. April 27, 2008

The law passed by the legislature was watered down so much I doubt that it will do any good. We need an effective, powerful law like Oklahoma that will compel illegal immigrants from wanting to come to Utah.

twin pillars of barbarism redux | 4:46 p.m. April 27, 2008

illegal polygamy and illegal aliens, openly tolerated. ignoring the law on such a massive scale is corrosive to the spirit of a society.

Stewart | 5:00 p.m. April 27, 2008

Putting Sen. Jenkins in charge of the SB-81 study committee is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. He is the republican that did all that he could to prevent as many of the immigration House bills from passing the Senate as he could. Finally when he couldn't stop some of them and they were wrapped up in SB-81, he did what he could to stop it and when that didn't work he created the delay amendment which was passed by a voice vote so that the vote of the senators could not be traced to each senator. It passed by a very tricky maneuver, and was a very close vote. Shame on the Utah Senate!!

Phred | 5:03 p.m. April 27, 2008

Many counties have a mosquito abatement program because the most effective control is implemented on an area wide basis. If that program is not adequate, then at the local level I must apply a local remedy by wearing DEET repellant and in so doing eliminate the attraction that I present. My best protection is assured if both approaches are vigorously applied.

Economics can be debated till the cows come home (that's about 4:00 pm isn't it?) but the most serious threat to this country is the loyalty of the invasionary force that truly believes they can win back the western states by flooding it with enough reconquistas to make us afraid to do anything about it. It seems their strategy is working already on our state legislature.

If that doesn't suite you, pay careful attention during the upcoming primary election and find out how the candidates feel about the issue of national security and the roll of local government before you vote.

illegal inmigrant | 6:25 p.m. April 27, 2008

Guys, you should not have a partial vision of life. Do you know how much damage US government caused to inmigrants` countries? Do you know how much do you need us? Avoid pride.

Viva Aztlan | 8:47 p.m. April 27, 2008

Utah is Aztlan territory. I saw no amnesty for the Pilgrims and their anchor babies!

Comedy Gold! | 9:44 p.m. April 27, 2008

Funny one, Viva Aztlan.

Actually, Utah's institutionalized corruption would fit in quite well in Mexico. We'd be Sonora Congelada.

Mexico is going to be giving Chiapas back to Guatemala any day now, right?

PLEASE LEAVE!!! | 10:29 p.m. April 27, 2008

I personally want the illegals out of this state! They do not belong here. They need to take their drugs and crimes and go back to Mexico. There are areas within the Salt Lake City, valley, that are now starting to look like Juarez, Tijuana Mexico. It's a filthy dirty shame!
Illegals are breaking our laws by being here.

I will call you "almost" | 11:07 p.m. April 27, 2008

Due to the tourist business, many people in Juarez and Tijuana speak English or want to learn it.

Not to many people in West Valley City have any interest in speaking English. Nor should they.

It's "racist" to expect them to learn any.

The Fact Is--- | 12:23 a.m. April 28, 2008

The bleeding hearts and open border people tell us that the illegals invading the United States are just honest, hard working people who are looking for a better life, escaping the terrible conditions in Mexico, that these poor people are living in cardboard boxes. Well, boo hoo. If we don't stem the tide, after all of the available welfare avenues have been exhausted by the overwhelming numbers, we will all be living in cardboard boxes, reduced to the lowest common denominator.

DT1965 | 10:44 a.m. April 28, 2008

The legislature's efforts to curb illegal immigration were thwarted by special interests, who worked to conflate law enforcement with distracting arguments about compassion and "immigrant families". ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION is something altogether different. These are foreign nationals (mostly Mexican citizens) who didn't bother to respect our immigration process, and are now being accommodated at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.

We cannot count on those who are here illegally to act in the best interests of our community. I'm concerned about uninsured drivers, high rates of crime, an increase in gang activity etc. While no doubt many illegal immigrants are hard-working, honest family people, there are many others who are unrepentant criminals. Recall the drug crackdown near Pioneer Park a week ago. A good number of the perpetrators were illegal aliens. And from a fiscal perspective, it seems that the increased costs for social services will hardly be offset by the meager tax proceeds on low-wage paychecks and purchases. We should consider the long-term consequences of kicking the can down the road on this issue.

Good La Raza | 10:49 a.m. April 28, 2008

Too bad HATERZ! Latinos are here to stay. We give you culture for your plain white lifes. What would happen if we not work. You would get no hard work done! You should be happy were here.

sandyshores | 12:44 p.m. May 28, 2008

The u.s.a is famed for hard work and it is not just one people but everyone that comes here through the front door. Like our parents did. We have no room for illegal immigrants we only have room for people who come here legal. Come join the american dream and not to play it. We are not a racist nation but a proud nation and rightfully so. ILLEGALS GO HOME!

anibal | 2:12 p.m. April 25, 2009

I can't believe that here in Utah there are many people racists,member or not members LDS Church.When Pioneers arrive to tah,this state belong to mexico,they were inmigrants too and nobody cast them out.U.S. their own country cast them from their homes,farms,cities,etc.U.S. IS AN DISCRIMINATOR COUNTRY.Lets the inmigrants lives here in peace!!!!!! Every one here is an inmigrant,only natives americans are legals in this country.

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.