Panel speaks on topic of immigration and SB81

Intermountain Catholic

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Senator Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City (left), Dee Rowland, government liaison for the Diocese of Salt Lake City; Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, and Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, present prepared remarks and answer questions from the audience regarding the topic of illegal immigration and SB81. The panel moderator was Joe Pyrah from the Provo Daily Herald. The panel discussion was sponsored by Sutherland Institute and the Salt Lake Chamber.IC photo by Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY —On July 1, many of the stipulations of 2008’s SB81 will go into effect.

Sutherland Institute and the Salt Lake Chamber sponsored the Utah Prosperity Forum to explore the question, "Is SB81 good for Utah business and culture?" The forum was held at Sutherland Institute in Salt Lake City.

The guest speakers included Senator Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City; Dee Rowland, government liaison for the Diocese of Salt Lake City; Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, and Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem. Joe Pyrah from the Provo Daily Herald moderated the forum.

Rep. Herrod said, "I believe in SB81 because it is the moral thing to do. It is good for the community and good for business long term.

"Tolerating illegal immigration is wrong because it is discrimination. By not enforcing our laws in the United States and Utah, we support institutional racism. I believe those who advocate for illegal aliens actually have the racist uncompassionate and un-Christian position. Although I will credit them, many of them are well-meaning."

Herrod said socialism and tolerating illegal immigration are related because both come at another’s expense and we can afford neither.

"Unfortunately, the debate is the rule of law versus compassion," said Herrod. "Illegal immigration always comes at someone else’s expense, whether it be the tax payers, innocent citizens, legal immigrants, or the tens of millions of people trying to come to this country legally.

"The reason there is a problem with the working poor, is because of illegal immigration.

"I made an oath to uphold the Utah and U.S. Constitution," said Herrod. "One of the greatest constitutional responsibilities of legislators is to protect our citizens. Utah citizens have lost their lives as a result of Utah’s lack of enforcement of immigration laws. People have suffered because of the delay in enacting SB81."

Herrod said on the practical side of immigration, Utah now has the fastest growing illegal population in the nation. This estimation says roughly half of the Hispanic population is now living in Utah.

"Utah is a sanctuary state. What are the implications?" asked Herrod. "Illegal immigrants are more likely to have school-age children than the general population. How are we going to pay for this? Which programs for citizens should we cut, or what business taxes should we raise? The average illegal alien is four times more likely to have a child out of wedlock, and is seven times more likely to need government assistance throughout his or her life."

Herrod said two-thirds of the new jobs created in Utah will require a post-high school education. So we are requiring one strata of society to bear the brunt of illegal immigration.

Senator Robles is a state senator of District 1. She said we do have a broken system that we need to fix at the federal level. It is going to hurt us in our pockets, and we are not going to see anything except more burden to our government.

"There are three pieces to my view that comprehensive immigration reform needs to happen. The number one need we must address is border security. We need to secure our borders," said Robles. "It is not because we do not have the capacity to take care of that because we do, but we are not doing it. Why, because there are some economic components. A lot of big companies are taking advantage of this. One of the reasons is because a lot of the illegals speak one language and are coming from one country. The second group happens to be Canada.

"The second part is the demand in terms of labor," said Robles. "The reality is our country has a demand for the labor force. I had the opportunity to work in a state office and we would constantly get calls from business owners saying they had posted positions for cleaning people and housekeepers for a year, and nobody applied. The reality is there is a demand for labor positions.

"The third component is what do we do with the 12 million undocumented workers in the United States?" asked Robles. "You have mixed-status families. Their children are American citizens because they were born in this country. You cannot split them up. That is the complicated part of SB81.

"Overstaying a visa is not a crime," said Robles. "It is a federal issue, and that is where all the complication comes in."

Robles said since 1996, a federal law was passed that if you cannot prove citizenship, you cannot have access to benefits. That is not changing. What is going to cause a problem is when U.S. citizens who are playing by the rules are questioned because they may look like an undocumented worker. Robles said that is a violation of one’s rights.

"The undocumented worker faces fear every day," said Robles. "They wonder if they will see their families again. That is how they live because of racial profiling. That is why SB81 will be challenged."

Rep. Sandstrom said as a U.S. Marine and a legislator, he took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this state and this nation.

"All SB81 truly is about is forcing the State of Utah and employers in the State of Utah to uphold federal laws and the Constitution," said Sandstrom. "I take a bit of offense when I hear this is an anti-Hispanic law. It is not. It pertains to everybody. We happen to share a common border to the south with people who are Latino. We have a common border to the north with people who are not.

"If a person is illegal, he or she has no business being in this state," said Sandstrom. "The cost of illegal immigration is great. The cost of illegal immigration includes a number of felonies because one must illegally obtain a state social security number. It requires one to commit document fraud, perjury, and a falsified or stolen social security number.

"So to say illegal immigrants are not technically violating the law, they are. They are committing felonies," said Sandstrom. "In the year 2005, a study by the Attorney General’s Office estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 Utah children were victims of social security number only identity theft. Sixteen hundred-twenty-five different companies had found they were paying salaries to social security numbers of Utah children under the age of 12. Over 90 percent of identity theft cases that existed involved illegal immigrants. These are all felonies that destroy the lives of our children.

"This is disadvantaging companies that are following the law against those that are hiring illegals," said Sandstrom. "SB81 is good for business because it protects businesses that hire U.S. citizens and legal immigrants from unscrupulous employers using illegal aliens. It assures that wages and salaries are paid to local workers who spend their money in the local community and stimulate the local Utah economy, not sending their money back to their country of origin.

"SB81 is going to take effect," said Sandstrom. "It truly does not have the teeth it should have, but it is a small step in the right direction."

Rowland said SB81 will not be good for Utah’s culture or business, and that is why the Catholic diocese spoke out against it.

"The first commonality we share among the panel members is that immigration law in the United States is not moving," said Rowland. "Our country has a hodge podge of varying state laws, many of which are being challenged in court. We need to hold our federal officials accountable to pass federal laws which deal with the reality of 12 million people living in the United States without documentation.

"If we claim to be Christians, we then must see undocumented workers as our sisters and brothers," said Rowland. "It might be that we understand that a majority of these individuals are overstaying their visas or crossing the border because of the grave conditions in their home countries. They are desperate to find work so they can feed their families. In that context we might examine the policies in our own country to determine what extent our trade reforms or monetary practices have contributed to the inability of farmers being able to grow crops to compete. Why else would so many risk their lives to get here.

"At least 4,200 individuals have died in the desert while trying to cross the border," said Rowland. "So in other words, what could we do together, each of us, to decrease poverty. Scholars have suggested that migrants, and particularly undocumented migrants’ decisions to return to their home country depends more on the conditions in their home country than on those in the receiving country."

"Let’s acknowledge that an illegal immigrant is subject to only civil not criminal felonies," said Rowland. "According to the American Sociology Association, immigrant crimes committed is lower than that of the general population. So law enforcement should focus on meth labs, child pornography, home invasions, and violent crimes, not rounding up illegal immigrants.

"Can we also agree that deporting the 12,000 undocumented immigrants in our country in unrealistic," said Rowland. "Demonizing undocumented workers does not advance any solution.

"I was appalled at Rep. Herrods statistics that all Hispanics are undocumented," said Rowland. "So let’s try to base our comments on facts and lets try to approach this issue with the commonalities that we all support our brothers and sisters no matter where they are, or what their situation may be. We can put our heads together and solve this situation."