Comments about ‘John Florez: Was the Utah Solution just smoke and mirrors?’

The real losers are the average Utahn (who has to pay to feed, educate, and heal the illegals and their families), the unemployed Utahn (who can't get a job because of the ease of hiring an illegal for less cost), and the honest Utah business (who has to compete against businesses that are paying their illegal employees less and can lower their bids and costs). If someone can address those people, then we would have a solution. And it is hard to understand why the average Utahn, unemployed Utahn, and honest Utah businesses don't make a point of electing leaders that will.

The Compact works if talking about legal immigrants, it has no relevance when talking about illegal immigrants that are criminals.

The compassion shown to Utah's workers is deplorable, and dishonest.

The compact and resulting laws are about supplying Utah business with cheap labor. It has nothing to do with compassion. It does show the dishonesty of many of our business people and the legislature that puts them above everyone else.

Florez seems to understand that the mistreatment of immigrant labor is just another way among many used by capital to beat up labor. Only when domestic labor finds a way to form a common cause with Mexican labor will there be a solution to this awful mess. But this will never happen as long as labor is bamboozled by domestic polical interests, religious interests (though sometimes well meaning), and business interests. This is an issue that only labor can figure out. Mr Florez should explore some new avenues of advocacy. Nothing in the current debate is working.

Having State legislators in Georgia, Florida and other caring States, actually worry about Americans without jobs? Yet businesses still cold-shoulder immigration laws and keep hiring aliens. The paramount issue is still the porous border and some cases, still open ranges. While the indifferent federal governments have completely failed the citizens and residents for thirty years, the illegal immigration population has reached over 20 million plus and with no ending. Our school system is a mess, the health care emergency rooms overrun and billions of dollars being drained from the State and Federal treasuries, to pacify the open border zealots like Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat.

Illegal Immigration has become a tightening garrote on American society and although the politicians try as they might to hide its severe financial impact, its not going away. Yesterday was an eye opener on this nemesis called the Southwest border

HB 469, by Rep. Dougall. If it is allowed to work, it may just solve most of all the immigration challenges we face. It is part of the Utah solution.

HB 469 throws out over 100 years of US case law about immigration, creates a way for Utahns to sponsor people from around the world, providing the immigrants are not in the US illegally.

HB 469 claims that there is NOTHING in the US Constitution that grants the Federal Government power over Immigration and prior to the Case Law noted above, the States had that Power.

It tells the Federal Government to protect our borders, create rules for granting citizenship, but as the State of Utah, we can take care of immigration, thank you very much.

The sponsoring principle of HB 469 provides a limiting factor of how fast immigrants can come, makes sure they do not place a larger burden than we can handle, and is more like co-signing a friend's car loan. It is the truly unique piece of the puzzle. With it, you don't need HB 116. Someone here illegally could find a sponsor, go home and come back with permission.

H.B. 469; while well intentioned is also an open invitation to exploitation and corruption. For about what a "coyote" charges, an individual "sponsor" or organization could front the fee or charge the applicant up front. Could this be a venue to secure indentured servants? Would scammers come out of the wood-work, charge foreigners the fee and then disappear? Where are the oversight and enforcement mechanisms to avoid exploitation and corruption in H.B. 469?