Utah GOP Learn From Arizona Immigration Fiasco and Go a Different Direction
Looks like some republicans in Utah looked at all of the uproar in Arizona and decided to chart a different course.
From NPR.com:
Last Wednesday, Utah’s Gov. Gary R. Herbert signed a package of immigration bills. One is an enforcement law, milder than Arizona’s, but still opposed by liberal immigration advocates. Another is a guest-worker bill, which is opposed by some conservatives as amnesty.
…
Utah’s new law has thrilled immigration reform advocates like Frank Sharry, founder of America’s Voice.
“The Utah legislation is a very rough draft of what we call comprehensive immigration reform at the national level,” Sharry says.
“It combines enforcement and a program to make those here legal,” he says.
Sharry says that in Utah, “what you have is, in a ruby-red state, some legislators and the governor; and the Mormon Church; and a conservative think tank; leading the way towards a more enlightened approach towards immigration.
I’m going to agree with this Sharry guy. I’m not familiar with the details of these reforms, but the broad strokes are what we need. We need to have control of who is coming in and we need to bring those who are adding to the economy out of the shadows. Neither can be effective without the other.
“In media stat virtus” – in the middle lies truth. We must have both elements of a comprehensive immigration policy – one to enforce our laws and hold buisness accountalbe for employment, and two a reasonable program to give those whom we have counted on to perform our menial tasks a process to pursue legal status. Fences don’t work and current ICE enforcement efforts are penalizing business owners while doing nothing to
change the status of workers who them temporarily put out of work. Common sense and a moderate comprehensive national program is the only way forward.
here here