Conservative Utah Offers Residency to Undocumented Workers

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 08:54:00 AM EST
Tags: Utah, immigrant rights (all tags)

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While states like Arizona are working hard to pass anti-immgrant bills, the LA Times reports Utah is bucking the trend.

Gov. Gary Herbert last week signed a bill that would give illegal immigrants who do not commit serious crimes and are working in Utah documents that, in the state's eyes at least, make them legal residents. For the law to work, however, the Obama administration would have to permit Utah to make it legal to employ people who entered the United States illegally — a federal crime.

Even if the law is symbolic, perhaps it can reshape thinking on the issue in other states:

"Utah is proof that there is a true silent majority of decent, level-headed Americans," said Paul Mero, head of the conservative Sutherland Institute here. "Conservative Republican members of Congress will be able to take a step back, not be so knee-jerk and caught up in the fear-mongering, and say, 'Look at Utah, the reddest of the red.' "

I've been to Snowbird, Alta and Salt Lake City, all of which I like a lot. Park City is on my list. Moab is also very popular. If you have some tourism dollars to spend, I hope you consider Utah.

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Conservative Utah Offers Residency to Undocumented Workers | 12 comments (12 topical)

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cheap labor indeed (2.00 / 0) (#3)
by Bornagaindem on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 02:11:35 PM EST

I really fail to understand the rationale behind liberals who support illegal immigration. We have 17% real unemployment in this country primarily in the arae of people who don't have college degrees. Working at McDonalds pays a living wage in Germany because the jobs can't be filled by illegal immigrants. In the US that is not the case.

An unlimited supply of cheap labor undermines wages and devalues the jobs themselves. Look how little Chavez was able to achieve for migrant workers - they have as little as they did in the 60's because there is always someone else to take the job at an even lower wage.

If they truly need workers to fill those low wage jobs let them bring them in legally and have to provide medical insurance and workmans comp etc so the burden isn't thrown onto the american taxpayer.

If it were really about supplying hope to all those poor people in the world who would otherwise have nothing then lets station a plane in every poor area of the world so that their poor can just climb on every night and bring them into america. But it is not. It is about letting Mexico export their problems to the US and it allows bad governments to thrive because the people have an outlet- a lousy outlet but an outlet nevertheless.

Do you not read the what happened in the chicken factories in the south. They used to be manned by blacks but now are almost exclusively manned by hispanics. Why? because it is cheaper for them to hire illegal immigrants than change the harsh working conditions that leave people crippled for life. It was harder for them to get away with that when the workers were clearly americans because they started taking them to court. But the illegals work cheaper and are afraid to sue when they are injured and since they have no health insurance they can just use them up and throw them away. When you are starving you don't think about the fact that the job may kill you. So now the black towns have no jobs and everyone loses.

Business wants an underclass to exploit and by supporting illegal immigration and paths to citizenship for people who enter illegally liberals undermine their real agenda- equal opportunity for all.

You make a valid point (none / 0) (#8)
by nyjets on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 04:23:48 PM EST

However it must be emphasized that a lot of people oppose immigration on economic grounds only. The simply fact is that our economy is imploding. We do not have enough jobs for American citizens. THe last thing we need are more people coming to this country taking what jobs that exist.
I agree that almost every racist opposes immigration. BUt not everybody who opposes immigration is a racist. THey (I) oppose immigration because our economy can not handle any more people.


The very rich in this country (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by Politalkix on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 09:14:10 PM EST

also oppose progressive tax and investment policies on economic grounds only (protecting their interests), not because they hate middle class and poor American citizens. Does that make it right?
An American citizen should not have a birthright claim to jobs and opportunities just because they were lucky to be born in a richer country just as people born with a silver spoon in their mouth should not have better claims to opportunities in life. This way of thinking in unamerican.
It is also wrong to imagine that the number of jobs in a country are finite and allowing more people to come in takes away jobs that exist. Every study on immigrants in America show that immigrants create many jobs themselves. Go to Silicon Valley, it is teeming with Chinese, Israeli, and Indian immigrants who started businesses that create jobs. Have you ever wondered why the economy of major metropolitan areas that welcome an influx of immigrants (legal and undocumented, from all parts of the world)have continuously demonstrated more economic opportunites for all compared to places where xenophobia rules? The regenerative value of immigrants to the US economy should be acknowledged better, IMO.


yes they should (none / 0) (#11)
by nyjets on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 10:12:05 PM EST

"An American citizen should not have a birthright claim to jobs and opportunities just because they were lucky to be born in a richer country just as people born with a silver spoon in their mouth should not have better claims to opportunities in life"
Actually, yes they can. If all American citizens were well of, then yes we can share. But that is not the case. The United States need to take care of its own first. Once the United States takes care of every American citizens, assuming there is anything left over, then and only then can the United States help non-American Citizens.

"It is also wrong to imagine that the number of jobs in a country are finite and allowing more people to come in takes away jobs that exist. Every study on immigrants in America show that immigrants create many jobs themselves."
The number of jobs in this country is most definitly finite. If we were a growing country, maybe we can absorb the excess population. But we are not. Those studies were probable done when our economy and country was grown. Our economy is now stagnant.

The simply fact of the matter is that this country is in decline. Our economy will never be the same again. We have to take care of our own first. If non-American citizens want a better life, they need to clean up there own countries first. Just like us American need to clean up our own country first for American. No one else is going to do it.


: Statist and defeatist attitudes don't help anyone (none / 0) (#12)
by Politalkix on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 11:50:30 PM EST

agree for the most part (none / 0) (#13)
by beowulf on Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 05:47:28 AM EST

However wage levels are usually set by politics, not the "free market". The US minimum wage is $7.25/hr with 9.0% unemployment. In Australia the minimum wage is $15.00/hr with 5.0% unemployment.


I used that example because there was some (none / 0) (#15)
by Bornagaindem on Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 02:30:37 PM EST

very good reporting done a few years ago on this ( of course it has been largely forgotten) and the point of the story was to simply point out why corporations bring in foreign workers to take jobs from americans. And it is not for the workers own good, it is to exploit them. I have no intention of pitting blacks against hispanics. It could just as easily have been illegal Poles taking jobs from whites and blacks in Chicago but the excellent reporting in that case is lacking.

My concerns are humanitarian as well - some of the hispanics come here and make it - just as many come here, are exploited and abused and fall through the cracks and do not make it. I do not think ripping your social contacts and family apart is a price you should have to pay to feed your family but we let Mexico do that decade after decade because they export their problems to the US. If this didn't happen Mexico would lose its second greatest source of income to its GDP. Is that anyway to run a country when you depend on remunerations? All I would ask is that america passes the same immigration laws that Mexico has for us.


Cheap labor available. (none / 0) (#1)
by Yes2Truth on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 09:38:04 AM EST

Apply in Utah. Do as we do, and help keep wages low in all states.

Yep- let's see what happens if the (none / 0) (#2)
by ruffian on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 10:32:09 AM EST

foreign workers try to join a union.


Or want abortions (none / 0) (#5)
by jbindc on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 03:46:13 PM EST

: Yikes! (none / 0) (#9)
by jbindc on Sun Mar 20, 2011 at 06:11:59 PM EST

Chicken Plants in alabama... (none / 0) (#14)
by jeffinalabama on Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 07:52:39 AM EST

have been raided in the past few months, and have been hiring locals to work. Many of the locals they are hiring are Hispanics whose families have lived here for 20-25 years.

Just sayin'.