SALT LAKE CITY -- A Top of Utah lawmaker will lead a legislative delegation to Arizona next week to hear firsthand experiences of border immigration issues, a legislative topic that has sparked a firestorm of controversy in some parts the United States.
Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, will head to the Arizona-Mexico border Monday, and with him will be Utah House Speaker David Clark and Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem.
"It's a fact-finding mission," said Sandstrom.
The visit comes as Utah lawmakers are expected in the next legislative session to consider immigration legislation similar to that passed in Arizona and stoked the continuing national debate on immigration.
"We are going to do a town hall meeting with ranchers whose property is on the borders and talk about their issues," Ray said Wednesday during a break of the legislative interim session.
The legislative delegation hopes to meet with local law enforcement and Arizona politicians, including the author of the immigration bill, Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican.
Ray initiated the visit to the areas of Apache and Douglas, Ariz., partly because he dealt with the topic as the homeland security task force chairman of a national state legislative exchange group that reviewed the Arizona proposal as a possible model law.
"We hope for a better understanding of what is happening there as we look at our own legislation," Ray said.
The Arizona law, which goes into effect next month, requires police conducting traffic stops or questioning people about possible violations to ask about immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" they are in the country illegally.
The law also makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally or to impede traffic while hiring day laborers, regardless of the worker's immigration status.
It would become a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit work.
Tony Yapias, a former director for the Office of Hispanic Affairs under former Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt, has called the Arizona law the most extreme legislation any state has ever passed.
"It's a slap to the face to Latinos. Latinos will become a key target of law enforcement because of who they look like, in effect legalizing racial profiling," Yapias wrote shortly after the Arizona legislation was signed into law this spring.
Sandstrom said he will sponsor Utah legislation that would require immigrants to carry proof of citizenship status and require law enforcement officers to question anyone they believe is in the country illegally.
He said it would also target employers who hire or transport undocumented immigrants.
The Utah delegation is expected to stay overnight and perhaps meet with the speaker of the Arizona House as well.
Ray said he personally will pay for the trip.
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