More immigration brawling
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Statewide frustration at federal inability to deal effectively with illegal immigration promises to make the issue hotter than usual during this year's session of the Legislature.
And two Top of Utah lawmakers are in the thick of it.
Windmill-tilting Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, has been running the same immigration/education bill since 2002, and he's doing it again this year. His House Bill 241 is appropriately titled Repeal of Exemptions From Nonresident Tuition. Donnelson's bill has come close once or twice, but never crossed the finish line.
Currently, Utah law allows resident-tuition rates for college students who are not legal residents of the United States, but who attended three years of Utah high schools and graduated. Donnelson's bill would revoke that in-state tuition price.
Our position over the years has been to disagree with Donnelson's approach. We don't think children should be punished for their parents' illegal actions.
Furthermore, it's in the interests of a stronger Utah economy that these students are able to afford post-high school studies, enabling them to secure higher-paying jobs and become more productive residents of the state.
Donnelson is also sponsoring House Bill 239, which would revoke driving-privilege cards for illegal Utah residents. This doesn't make much sense to us, either. Without these cards, illegals are ghosts in our state and our communities. It is a form of ID, but cannot, for example, be used to register to vote. It gives law enforcement a tool to track these individuals if they are involved in accidents or commit moving violations, but it does not give them the legal rights citizens of Utah and the United States enjoy.
But don't take only our word -- a Legislative Auditor General's report released Friday said 34,799 privilege cards have been issued so far, and that 76 percent of those people have insured their cars. By comparison, auditors noted that of Utahns with driver's licenses -- legal residents and U.S. citizens -- 82 percent have auto insurance.
If you're not detecting a pattern here, maybe this one will bring Donnelson's legislative agenda into sharper focus: Yet another measure he's sponsoring, House Bill 98 (Utah Employment Verification Act), would "require certain employers to participate in a federal program to verify the employment eligibility of employees." In simpler terms, it would require employers to verify that the workers hired are legal, properly documented residents of this country. That's something we can agree with, as long as the financial burden of compliance doesn't drive companies out of business.
All this said, the approach of another Top of Utah lawmaker, Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, seems a more reasonable way for Utah to grapple with Uncle Sam's inability to fulfill its duties to secure the borders. His Senate Bill 97 would create an immigration task force to investigate ways in which the state can and/or should attempt to address the illegal immigration issue. It would, we think, provide a more comprehensive look at the situation as opposed to the topic by topic technique being pursued by Donnelson.
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