LAYTON -- In the midst of an immigration firestorm, Gov. Gary Herbert will gather a statewide roundtable next week to explore immigration reform he hopes best serves Utah's interests.
Starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Herbert will facilitate a roundtable discussion with various stakeholders to explore the issues as lawmakers consider controversial immigration legislation.
The gathering of those stakeholders comes shortly after the release of 1,300 names of purportedly illegal immigrants living in Utah. The release, from a sender who claims to be part of an unnamed group, has reignited an international debate on the immigration issue.
The 30-page packet of detailed information -- which included children, pregnancies and alleged illegal business activity -- started to arrive on the desks of public officials and media outlets late last week.
But as news of the scope of the list expands, people such as Tony Yapias, director of Proyecto Latino de Utah, said they are getting calls for comments from the international media.
Yapias blamed the Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration, a conservative group, for helping create an atmosphere that would promote a vigilante action like the release of the list.
"They have elevated the debate to this degree because of their intolerance," said Yapias, a director of the Office of Hispanic Affairs under former Gov. Michael Leavitt.
On Wednesday, Coalition leader Ron Mortensen responded to Yapias on the website redstate.com.
"To my personal knowledge our coalition knew nothing of this list and had nothing to do with its disclosure. I believe this act goes over the line. Our entire focus is on protecting the personal information of individuals against improper use and disclosure," writes Mortensen, who also is chairman of the group called Citizens for Tax Fairness.
"We denounce whoever compiled and released this list, and ask them to respect and uphold Utah's privacy laws," he added.
It was Yapias who first called for Herbert to investigate who might have released the list of Social Security numbers, birth dates and addresses from around the state.
More than 200 names -- Ogden alone has almost half -- are in Top of Utah locations and in all of the region's biggest cities.
An unknown author writes in a letter included in the packet:
"We are simply citizens who continue to see the degradation of our country and our state caused in part by the continuing presence of illegal aliens."
On Tuesday, Herbert ordered an investigation into any possible leaks of restricted state-based information.
Intentionally releasing a private record is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Several Utah lawmakers have said they will sponsor legislation in the 2011 session that is similar to an Arizona law that is supposed to go into effect later this month.
The Arizona legislation, among other things, 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 outcry over Utah possibly mimicking the law, in part, prompted Herbert to prepare a roundtable meeting.
The governor said he will invite lawmakers, members of the faith-based community, minority groups, law enforcement, business leaders and others to discuss options for the state.
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