SALT LAKE CITY — Republican lawmakers on Utah's Capitol Hill unveiled a series of bills they argue will help address crime and impacts hitting Utah from the southern border and illegal immigration.
At a news conference Monday, the lawmakers detailed their policy proposals and criticized the Biden administration's handling of illegal immigration, expressing hope in the policies of President-elect Donald Trump.
"We welcome all who come here legally wishing to call Utah and the U.S. home," said House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield. "It’s part of our culture."
Watch below as lawmakers introduce new bills focused on immigration, public safety:
Some of the bills were more directly related to immigration than others. Ones focusing on crime include:
- A bill creating a felony crime of trafficking fentanyl
- Enhancing penalties for gang crimes, recruiting minors to join gangs and retail theft rings
- Raising the criminal penalty in Utah for a class A misdemeanor to 365 days in jail to align with federal law
- Increasing penalties for human trafficking
- Utilizing law enforcement earlier to remove squatters from property
The bills proposed by lawmakers dealing specifically with immigration include:
- Requiring undocumented immigrants to be deported after serving a sentence for a crime
- Create a penalty enhancement for an illegal immigrant who commits a felony after previously being convicted of unlawful re-entry
- Requiring more employers to use E-Verify to ensure they hire legal immigrants
- Require police to impound vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers
- Earmark emergency funding to schools who see a surge in English language learners
- Impose a 2% fee on international wire transfers that can be waived with a valid state ID
- Expand jail facilities' detention capacity
On his bill dealing with unlicensed drivers, Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-West Valley City, said he is trying to push more people to obtain a driver privilege card, something Utah has offered to undocumented immigrants for some time now.
Attorney shares concerns below over bills she believes are aimed at punishing Utah immigrants:
"The problem is we have a lot of drivers in this state. They may not be here legally and for some reason they don’t have a driver license or driver privilege card and law enforcement doesn’t know who they are," he said, adding that his bill does allow for a fingerprint check should someone not present ID in a traffic stop.
Rep. MacPherson said his bill does not authorize police to simply pull someone over and inquire of their immigration status. He is also seeking to increase the penalty for driving without a license.
"If it’s suspended or revoked? It’s a misdemeanor. If you’ve never had one? It’s an infraction," he said. "So what this bill will do essentially will elevate it to be equal to driving with any form of invalid license or suspended and it will be a misdemeanor."
Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, is sponsoring a bill that would essentially tax remittances, which is money sent outside the country often by an immigrant to their family outside the U.S. She told FOX 13 News she wants to take the 2% fee and earmark it for law enforcement needs.
"The foreign remittances we’re picking up are remittances that people are already not paying taxes on," she said. "They’re not filing a tax return here in Utah, but they’re still using our infrastructure, our roads, our law enforcement infrastructure. This could recoup the costs for that."
Rep. Lisonbee told FOX 13 News the policies were not seeking to enact mass deportations of people who may be undocumented.
"We’re specifically targeting the criminal element in these communities that’s not only impacting Utahns but the immigrant communities that are living around them," she said.
But House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, who attended Monday's news conference to see what her Republican colleagues on Utah's Capitol Hill were unveiling, said she had some concerns about linking many of them to immigration.
"Squatters? How does that tie to immigration?" she said following the event.
Rep. Romero told FOX 13 News that while she wanted to read the bills first, there were many concepts presented that she believed she could support. She specifically called out Rep. Candice Pierucci's bill earmarking funds for teachers dealing with a large volume of English language learners.
However, the House Minority Leader said she worried that rhetoric surrounding the bills would paint many people with a broad brush and demonize people.
"I want to make sure that we look at the human component to this, too, and not just use rhetoric or stereotype who people are," she said.
