Comments about ‘Utah lawmaker Stephen Sandstrom to draft immigration bill similar to Arizona's’

If the ACLU is against the law you know it has to be a good one. I hope some of our leaders will step up to the plate and introduce legislation that will force the so called law enforcement to do their jobs.

Way to go Arizona!!

Wonderful news. Keep up the good work Arizona and hopefully we follow.

Amazing that the liberals have a hard time understanding that it's against the law to do something that is illegal. Seems like a simple concept to me.

Thanks Stephen, I'll gladly donate to this great cause

First off .. my guess is the Arizona law will not pass Constitutional muster as the Supreme Court has said that issues relating to immigrant legal status and laws relating to immigration are Federal.

Second, Sandstrom's analogy to drunk driving is ridiculous. Drunk driving is a crime, being an undocumented migrant is not a crime, it is illegal (there is a civil penalty), but so does paying your taxes late. Stop treating these people like they are criminals.

Third, the last time there was amnesty was under Reagan: "I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and heart to get here."

Just as I am against all crime and criminals, I am FOR the new Arizona law. It's too bad that Arizona had to state the obvious, that something illegal is AGAINST the law!!!

@mcflavocat, Illegal immigration is a crime, and carries a fine and possible jail time. Working is a felony. Civil law deals with a person or company suing another person.

The law is perfectly legal, there have been over 200 immigration laws passed by states in the past six years.

It's already a crime to be here illegally, but the past several years we never deported people that did not commit other crimes. This law will deport everyone here illegally, like it use to.

It's ridiculous to fight terrorism half way around the world, yet let 20 million people walk across the border or overstay visas. What happens when Al-Qaida the drug lords of the east, and the drug lords of the west combine? This country has no future unless we secure the borders and the interior.

My good friend who is an officer in the US Air Force, born and bred here in Utah, can now be pulled over and questioned in Arizona and forced to prove he is a US citizen or face deportation. His only crime? He is hispanic. There has to be a better way.

Sandsrtom is self serving and big-noting himself trying to seeking to play follow the leader.

Wow. Simply wow. Why do we have this illegal immigrant situation? It's because our immigration process is extremely complex and lengthy. We should be making it easier for Mexicans to immigrate legally. Making more laws, isn't the answer. If our ancestors had to go through what they do to move here, few of us would be here now. Let's create new "Ellis Islands" along the border, and help Mexicans to come to the United States to work legally. We need their labor. They need jobs. There shouldn't be an issue here. People like the governor of AZ must have very limited ability to see the bigger picture and to solve problems.

Not everyone--
is illegal thankful
I was Born in the UnitedStates of America..

@utah guy, there is a lot of false information coming out on this, meant to stir up discontent. First of all, your friend can't be pulled over for being Hispanic. The law forbids profiling. He can be stopped for a traffic violation. His drivers license is all the proof he needs.

The officers next stop may be a Korean with a broken tail light. When asked to produce a license, he pulls out an Korean national ID and does not have a passport. He would then be checked with the Federal database. If in the country illegally, he is transferred to the Feds for deportation.

They don't need to profile, they will be busy enough taking care of those that are discovered during routine checks. The bill is on the Internet, read it, and decide for yourself.

Let me clarify. It is NOT a crime to be in the U.S. undocumented. It IS a crime to cross the border illegally. More than half of all people who are in the U.S. undocumented did not cross the border illegally. Most have expired visas or have broken protocol (i.e. not registered for full-time school when here on an F-1 Visa). Those who cross illegally can be charged with a misdemeanor ONLY unless it is a second offense, then it is a felony. There has been NO clarification by the courts whether being caught undocumented while not in the act of crossing is, in fact, a crime per se. The U.S. government rarely charges b/c most leave 'voluntarily' once caught and threatened with the misdemeanor. The Arizona law affects the people who are already here far more than those crossing the border.

Two cases in particular held that the power to expel or deport, or exclude non-citizens is an incident of national sovereignty. Supreme Court decisions preclude states from passing legislation that directly impinges on the federal dominion over regulating immigration. State laws can't counter Fed.

I love Mexico, it's a beutifull country. every time I go there I just want to move there. You know why I havn't? Becuase I can't gat a job there, that's why. Becuase employers would be fined or sent to jail for giving me a job without the right paperwork.

That works pretty well, I'm still here.

Finally! A representative has the fortitude to pass a law like this. This legislation is FAR overdue in this state. Illegal aliens are everywhere, and unless the Utah legislature does something about it, it's just going to get worse.

Addressing illegal immigration will also go a long way in reducing drugs and violent crime as well.

We already have laws requiring everyone to have indentification with them at all times, even if you are mowing your yard. These illegal aliens would feel picked on as they would lead the number of arrest because they have no identification and that is cause for arrest. The tools are there, just enforce the tools they have.

As for Hispanic americans, they have remained too quiet and not made any effort to denounce these activist as representing the american hispanics. Not even the news media or government has recognized and done anything to stop this associating American Mexican population with the illegal population. For this reason the american hispanics will face some of the negative affects that illegals have put on their race. But being americans the impact will be minimal because they can prove who they are.

And law enforcement doesn't need to have special permission from the terrorist illegal community for law enforcement to do their job.

As an american, we must put illegals in place and stop the carnage they are causing being in america illegally. What ever it takes to stop them I am for.

Utah must pass the most stringent immigration law in the nation. Why? Because Utah has the reputation as a santuary state for illegal aliens. After the other states pass illegal immigration laws the flood of illegals to Utah will overwhelm all state services. Utah needs to act NOW and let the illegals know that they are not welcome, breaking the law will not be tolerated. BTW, foriegn nationals have no rights in America, especially constitutional rights.
As far as proving you are a legal citizen by presenting documentation; it is a priveledge to prove American citizenship. I, as a citizen, do it every time I travel by airplane or present my drivers license.

if the ACLU is against it, it has to be good. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, the ACLU seeks to destroy those things.

If I run a red light, there is probable cause to pull me over. If I drive down the street looking hispanic, there is no probable cause to pull me over.

If you want to reduce the violent crime and drug traffic you have to address illegal immigration.

In TX a high percentage of illegal activity is driven by professional criminals who come here to be professional criminals because it was more profitable. Further, if caught they are likely to be deported just long enough to come back.

Many of the gangs have illegal members and engage in both drug and human traffic.

America's soft immigration enforcement ats like a large magnet for professional international criminals.

Re: Utah guy @ 12:40

I understand that your issue to a certain extent. However, I am sick to death of illegal aliens hiding behind the ACLU's cries about "racial profiling". Recently, my wife did a paper for her college class that brought to light all the money the U.S. is losing by having the illegal population here. It was astounding. She had no idea the numbers were that large. I work in construction. It is pretty pathetic that I can't talk to over 75% of the workers on my site because I speak ENGLISH and they only speak Spanish. As an American, I grow concerned that the country is losing it's patriotism due to these illegals. A TRUE patriot would understand the bigger picture here. Your friend, I'm sure, would understand that if he is questioned for papers, it is only because of the immigration problem. We need to get rid of them MOSTLY because of the financial burden it is causing this country. I understand their passion to want to live in this great land, however there are legal ways to make it happen. Then they can love THIS country instead of Mexico.

@utah guy. "There has to be a better way"

Name it. It can't be the status quo. As a physician, I am forced to help illegals if they come into the emergency room with an injury or illness. I realize that they won't pay their bill. I know that the bill will be passed on to the hospital and to me as a person who carries insurance. This is not about being charitable. It is about being unable to sustain the current system without going bankrupt. Illegals are criminals. When they don't pay their bills, they are stealing from those who do.

Adopt the Arizona law because the flood of illegals is headed our way!

Obviously all you who are for this bill and Rep. Sandstrom have no fear of being pulled over because your names are obviously "white".

My last name is Portuguese, I married it and for them it was changed at Ellis Island a hundred or so years ago.

A police officer once told me that if he followed a car long enough he would find something to pull them over for. That said, if the officer ran my license plates and saw the names of my husband and me, under this law he could pull us over and make us prove we are legal. My fear is that this will happen to my children while driving and they will end up in custody. It doesn't matter that we were all born in Utah.

Are you all willing to give your 16 year old children a copy of their birth certificate to carry with them at all times? That runs the risk of identity theft if/when the teenager loses the birth certificate. But, that is one of the unforeseen consequences that lawmakers don't think about.