Deseret News | Undocumented workers flow into Utah and U.S.

Reader comments
Undocumented workers flow into Utah and U.S.

Higher | 2:14 a.m. April 15, 2009

Another reason why my premiums go up. They should be thanking me and mowing my yard.

Anonymous | 2:29 a.m. April 15, 2009

>undocumented immigrants

The correct expression is "illegal aliens."
"Invading enemy combatants" is even more accurate, but "illegal aliens" will do.

Unemployment... Recession? | 2:42 a.m. April 15, 2009

70,000 Unemployed Utahn's - 110,000 Illegal Aliens = 0% unemployment rate.

I am positive these numbers would be reflective for the rest of the nation.

Thanks to our government and local police dept's for upholding the law. ;)

Comments continue below

Utahn who has had enough | 6:48 a.m. April 15, 2009

Perlich said. "We've got to get more educated as a nation ". The education we need is that individuals who are here illegally are breaking the law and sucking our nation dry. How long can a nation survive when it is built on rewarding or encouraging illegal activity? Come here legally or get out. And by the way, we speak ENGLISH in America. Last time I checked ENGLISH was the official language of Utah as well!

weezie | 7:01 a.m. April 15, 2009

Salt Lake City, Utah=Sanctuary City and State. Thanks law makers and law enforement.

When? | 7:36 a.m. April 15, 2009

do the people win or get thier way? We have told congress, we have told doug wright and anybody else that wont listen that we dont want illegal immigration. Why should we have to subsidize thier existence here in utah. things are tough enough. Studies shown that they are a drain on the system. My health care insurance is higher because they get theirs for free. My childs education is lowered because of ESL. other social services are at the point of backruptcy. We have pirates on the ocean, we have terrorists through out the world, and we have illegals coming here and breaking the laws. And no one has the courage to do anything about it. Some day in the not too distant future people will get tired of all this and demand something better.

Paul | 7:51 a.m. April 15, 2009

How can the US become more educated by letting in millions of the least educated from South of our border? Seems like we'll lose that battle.

Thomas | 7:55 a.m. April 15, 2009

A country without borders or enforceable laws loses its identity and eventually ceases to exist. I have to believe that this is the aim of at least some of those who promote and reward illegal immigration. They do not love, promote, or respect the history of their own nation. The United States of America is the greatest nation on earth, and is perilously close to losing that status in part because it is becoming filled with those who want to raid her economic and political resources without lawfully contributing to her, or help people so to do. I've had enough of the kind of talk in this article.

To Unemployment... Recession? | 8:00 a.m. April 15, 2009

Your comment shows how unsophisticated you are. Numbers don't work like that. Most folks who are here illegally are taking jobs that Americans won't take--no matter what. Life isn't as simple as your fuzzy number math.

Harris T. | 8:13 a.m. April 15, 2009

A direct result of the total failure of the government to control illegal aliens will be the rise of private American groups that will handle the problem. The government can ignore the will of the people only so long. Illegal aliens will never be accepted as law abiding immigrants until they follow the laws. Changing the law to acomodate law breakers is not the American way. Until politicians, police and corrupt citizens understand this the only thing being accomplished is the creation of a new slave class in America.

PEW data unreliable | 8:21 a.m. April 15, 2009

PEW studies deal with estimates. No hard number facts.
They constantly blur the words immigrant, migrant, with illegal immigrant, and illegal alien.

This nullifies their studies because they do not distinguish between the illegal alien and legal and native born.

This was a reason that they were not asked to preform the HB 107 Economic Impact Of Illegal Aliens study for the state of Utah.

Artz | 8:29 a.m. April 15, 2009

Thomas, I second and third your comments

Have to agree - | 8:30 a.m. April 15, 2009

I have to agree with these comments - just imagine what this country would be like if the Native Americans had blocked illegal immigration when it first started occurring 500 years ago....

And talk about your anchor babies....

And learning the native languages instead of forcing the language of the immigrants on everyone else....

And by all means, let's start respecting the history of this nation by teaching it to our children accurately....

hmm... | 9:59 a.m. April 15, 2009

More illegal immigrants. More crime, more problems in schools, more problems with health care. I wonder if they are at all connected?

hmm.... is right | 10:46 a.m. April 15, 2009

Illegal immigrants are Chief Burbank's "ace in the hole", as long as there are large numbers of illegals, there will be large numbers of gang members who prey on them, (or are illegal themselves)! Presto - more money to solve the "gang" problem.
Gangs and/or illegals - solve one problem and you've solved the other.
I suspect the City really doesn't want a solution to either one, otherwise how could you keep asking taxpayers for money to "solve the gang problem".

The reason... | 11:05 a.m. April 15, 2009

Doug Wright, many businesses and all the liberal media love uncontrolled immigration is more selfish than first appears. All of them hope to gain by it. For them, national long-term viability and interest don't matter.

One political party will soon have complete control of national politics because they know immigrants (especially the illegals) will vote overwhelmingly Democrat. (Doug Wright is "Republican" by name only. His views put him way to the left of Jim Matheson.)

Greed drives the reason businesses support the cheap labor provided by illegals.

Churches are eyeing potential converts.

Some of us can see the ill effects uncontrolled immigration will have on the future of this nation.

I fear selfishness and greed will cause our nation's downfall.

Add to hmm... | 11:31 a.m. April 15, 2009

that many groups or entities intend to profit off of the illegal influx. With more crime, there's the need for more government involvement with larger police forces and bigger prisons.

The drain on healthcare drives up prices, making socialized medicine an easier sell.

And the schools are always asking for more money. Now that a third of all new school kids are from illegals, there'll be a call for more schools, more teachers, which only means more government outlay.

We can go on and on. The news media needs something sensational to report and illegals are our chief violent criminals today. Attorneys will profit. Businesses improve their bottom lines, the Democratic Party will gain a greater proportion of the overall voting populace once they grant illegals citizenship, etc.

scapegoats? | 11:56 a.m. April 15, 2009

@When? (7:36am) et al: Please share the studies that have shown illegal immigrants are a drain on the system. Studies I've seen show that while they may drain certain specific areas, on the whole they provide a net benefit to the economy ($35 billion a year, according to the Council of Economic Advisors). Three-fourths of them have Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from them but never receive these benefits, accounting (by NYT in 2005) for 10% of the Social Security surplus--and this is factored into plans for future solvency. (Google "economic impact of illegal immigration.")

Perhaps we could be a little more tolerant if we understood the complexities of the illegal immigration problem better.

I find it astounding that some of us would limit access by children of illegal immigrants to our education system. If we are concerned about their impact on crime, economy, and culture, what better solution is there? A few dollars spent now on education will pay huge dividends when these children become productive members of our society.

Enough already | 12:59 p.m. April 15, 2009

Immigration reform is an extreme case of special interests looking out for short term gains for themselves at the expense of society. On one side the ethno-centric groups want more voters, the unions want more members, the corporations want cheap labor and the politicians representing those groups want more contributions. On the other side right wing groups are desperately using this issue in an attempt to win back support from independents that have fled the Republican Party.

Immigrants made this country strong; not by their presence but by their assimilation and incorporation into the American society and culture. This cannot happen if immigrants start their life as Americans by entering this country illegally which makes it, by definition, impossible to assimilate. This cannot happen if immigrants refuse to speak English and are paid a substandard wage by businesses taking advantage of them.

Unless we change the status quo, we're headed for disaster.

Tina | 1:28 p.m. April 15, 2009

Illegals need to get out! They are draining our economy! We cannot afford them and they simply need to GET OUT! They are BIG moochers!

Add it up | 2:58 p.m. April 15, 2009

No one wants to divide families, to force people from a home and job to be deported. But....

No one wants to pay extra taxes for education of children whose parents are not here legally - when education leaders continue to tell us how our classrooms are over crowded.

No one wants to pay higher taxes to support welfare and social programs supporting those that depend on them due to low paying jobs (the kinds that don't ask for any verification of employment).

And No one wants to pay higher medical costs because immigrants (you choose the best word: illegal or undocumented) don't have insurance to cover basic needs.

California found out fast that there is no free lunch - it is our turn now to pay more or to stop the stampede into Utah.

tenx | 3:21 p.m. April 15, 2009

An immigrant (some 3.0 million per year) stands in line, pays the fees, has a background check, takes a medical exam and then waits for years and years to be accepted (depends on their country of origin) and then comes to this country legally and assimilates and swears allegiance to the American Flag. Illegals come here illegally and should be deported as the law states. Simple!!

C.W. | 4:39 p.m. April 15, 2009

Why is the American taxpayer having to beg law enforcement to enforce existing laws?

After all the debate back and forth on the economic consequences of illegals - THE POLICE ARE SWORN TO UPHOLD EXISTING LAW! Its that simple!

If pro-illegal forces want to change the law they need to get busy and change it not IGNORE existing law!

Stewart | 4:48 p.m. April 15, 2009

Illegal aliens are flowing into Utah because the state is full of enablers. At the top of the list are the cheap labor employers that make it all possible, but next to them is the "don't ask, don't tell," policy of the LDS Church. Illegal aliens quickly learn that if they join the church they can get food and other church welfare when they are out of work. Spanish Speaking Wards also provide a network that helps them find the cheap labor employers.

Because of this support LDS members often feel that it is wrong for them to oppose illegal immigration. The official position of the Church is neutrality but the actions of church leadership seems to be much different

WatchDog | 5:29 p.m. April 15, 2009

RE: To 70,000 Unemployed Utahn's - 110,000 Illegal Aliens = 0% unemployment rate.

AND, you could add a better more competitive wage scale to boot!

But, with Babble, AG Shiftless, and Doug Wrong, all standing with the criminal illegal aliens and greedy employers, we are lucky to have any state - or jobs - left at all!

Ken Goddard | 7:08 p.m. April 15, 2009

Ya want to check out the future. Look at the Los Angeles school system. Only a dung beetle would believe this once great nations still is. The best of times are behind us. As a nation the future is dire.

amuzed | 7:10 p.m. April 15, 2009

stop baptizing them - but there goes tyhe 10 percent.

good ol'days | 9:30 p.m. April 15, 2009

Do you ever notice that when people talk about the "good ol' days", it is always a time before illegal immigration was a problem. It was always a time where if you met a new person you did not have to question their citizenship. A time when most, if not all, people spoke English. A time when wearing red or blue showed your college team. A time where new people to the country worked hard to become an American, not turn our country into where they just came from. Ahhh...

abolish slavery! | 1:52 a.m. April 16, 2009

Illegal aliens = 21st century slavery.

Besides taking American jobs they have forced housing prices up, forced the state to pay more for schools and social services, which in turn cuts programs to Amica's disabled and elderly.

It use to be that the property tax circuit breaker for the elderly did not count the income of the disabled child. It use to be that food stamps for the disabled did not count the elderly parents income to allow care givers that were disabled to move in with parents without a cut in benefits. After pouring over laws passed in an attempt to stop mass housing I found these were all stopped. It may stop the 14 to a household, but it hurts the disabled and the elderly. All to help end a problem the state is afraid to face head on. Instead they choose the cowardly act of using back door tactics that hurt everyone.

Pew Data is Reliable | 11:53 a.m. April 16, 2009

In response to the comment about Pew being unreliable:

Wrong. It is one of the most reliable sources for data that exists, especially on immigration.

TL Winslow | 3:08 p.m. June 30, 2009

The age-old pesky U.S.-Mexico border problem has taxed the resources of both countries, led to long lists of injustices, and appears to be heading only for worse troubles in the future. Guess what? The border problem can never be solved. Why? Because the border IS the problem! It's time for a paradigm change.

Never fear, a satisfying, comprehensive solution is within reach: the Megamerge Dissolution Solution. Simply dissolve the border along with the failed Mexican government, and megamerge the two countries under U.S. law, with mass free 2-way migration eventually equalizing the development and opportunities permanently, with justice and without racism, and without threatening U.S. sovereignty or basic principles.

To read the groundbreaking proposal, Google "Megamerge Dissolution Solution."

Sid | 4:47 p.m. Sept. 14, 2009

In the words of Rahm Emmanuel,"Never let a crisis go to waste". The Mexican border is a continual crisis that the government uses to it's advantage to continually increase the size of itself in order to "deal" with the problem. The eventual outcome will be a police state. The immigrants themselves are just "pawns in the game".

Aaron | 9:34 a.m. Sept. 21, 2009

I double majored in Spanish and International Studies and the "conservative professors" at BYU when this issue came up constantly spoke as if Hispanics and their beautiful culture can do no wrong. I love their culture, history, food, etc. However, we all have our limits. I know if some might read this board they may think we are full of hate. In reality, it's really frustration. Frustration at our own government. Frustration that so many times I feel like even though I love Spanish and all and I love to speak it, I want to feel like I'm in America. You to go Iowa, illegals are everywhere. You go to Wyoming, everywhere. Pennsylvannia, same, Delaware, yep, you guessed it. Where is this so-called beloved "diversity" that you sophisticated intellectual think tanks embrace and worship? Where are the Eastern Europeans, Russians, Indians, that wish to come? We have to start prosecuting employers!!!

Eric | 4:51 p.m. Sept. 24, 2009

I'm trying to get in touch w/ undocumented workers in Sanpete County for an article. Have a contact I can use? Send an e-mail to: eric@sanpetemessenger.com

Thanks!

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.