Immigration Politics - Utah OpEd: False hopes for immigrants

An immigration lawyer in Utah analyzes the new Utah legislation.

False hopes for immigrants | The Salt Lake Tribune: "House Bill 497 and 116 are examples of state legislation that could very well be found unconstitutional. One bill allows police officers in certain circumstances to ask individuals their immigration status. Why do we need this bill?

... The “work” and “residence permit” provisions of the bill are unlikely to ever have any real effect. Those provisions require the governor to negotiate with the federal government to obtain any waivers to give effect to this law. It would go into effect when that occurs, or in July of 2013. I cannot imagine the federal government giving permission to each state to come up with its own immigration laws, or the extraordinary complexity of the situation, were this to be allowed.

If Utah ignores the federal government and implements the residence and work permit on its own, what benefit will this provide to the undocumented population of Utah? Absolutely none. The law requires a payment of $2,500 to live and work in Utah. However, as long as Utah is part of the United States, only the U.S. Congress can decide who can legally work and live anywhere in the country, including Utah.

Already, many immigrants both in and outside of Utah are frantically calling immigration attorneys to see when they can apply for this supposed “benefit.” They have been given the false hope that if they live in Utah they will be given an immigration benefit, when this is far from the truth. Unfortunately, immigrants (and the rest of us) have no choice but to wait for a real immigration law to be passed by Congress, signed by the president and implemented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

As frustrated as all sides of the immigration debate are about the total inaction of the federal government in this area, taking matters into our own hands will not solve the problem but will create many others."