Editorial: Happy birthday El Observador de Utah

Think of El Observador de Utah as a one-year-old child. Our offspring, our voice, where we sow our memories, our present day lives and our future aspirations.
At one year, this child has taken its first steps in a world that's ever changing. Like any one year old, it already shows marked personality traits, in the case of El Observador these traits are reflected in the issues that define our editorial focus. These are issues that we care about passionately because we know you, our readers, live and feel these issues every day.

READ MORE: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700114084/Editorial-Happy-birthday-El-Observador-de-Utah.html

Mexicanos en Utah denuncian racismo en mormones

Un grupo de ciudadanos mexicanos de Utah pidió en Salt Lake City que el Gobierno de México suspenda el otorgamiento de visas a misioneros mormones, debido a que legisladores de esa fe respaldan proyectos de ley antiinmigrantes.
 
"Exigimos que el Gobierno mexicano no reanude la emisión de las visas hasta que la jerarquía de la Iglesia de los Santos de los Últimos Días (mormones) públicamente pida a sus miembros electos como representantes que no introduzcan propuestas de ley que atenten contra los derechos humanos de los inmigrantes" , declaró Raúl López Vargas, portavoz del grupo

LEER MAS: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/744760.html

Life in the shadows: Undocumented residents speak out

Enrique is frustrated and scared. · The Peruvian had pinned his hopes on the DREAM Act, but when the federal legislation failed to pass, he wondered what would happen after he earned his degree in urban planning from the University of Utah. · He said he has kept faith that the decision his mother made when he was 11 to come to the United States illegally wouldn’t haunt him as an adult. He has already made sacrifices — including not having seen his father in 10 years.

READ MORE: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51081716-76/110000-community-documents-enrique.html.csp 

Lawmakers’ talk of reform rattles undocumented SLC worker

Jorge’s first trip to America was in 1998. Legally.

He came on a work visa to sell ski boot soles in New York City. The business eventually failed, however, when investors pulled the money and he was forced to return to Mexico with no job, no income and a wife and two children.

During his time in the United States, however, he saw opportunity that didn’t exist in Mexico. He was a college graduate with a degree, but obtaining legal citizenship would take about 20 years and jobs in Mexico were hard to come by.

READ MORE: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51177640-90/able-america-assistant-clean.html.csp 

Utah Progressives decry state’s attempts to enact immigration reform

The Coalition of Utah Progressives decried immigration bills under consideration by the Utah Legislature at a Sunday press conference, calling four of the bills irresponsible and a grandstand for political posturing.

In front of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building in downtown Salt Lake City, three members of the local advocacy group read a prepared statement and held brightly colored signs, castigating legislators for what they said are money-wasting and unconstitutional efforts to address immigration reform at the local and state level. In addition, the group called on congressional representatives to work with President Barack Obama in reforming federal immigration policy.

READ MORE: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51200246-76/immigration-reform-utah-bills.html.csp 

Panel calls on Congress to fix immigration laws

SJR12 • Sen. Stuart Reid’s joint resolution urging Congress to address and resolve the illegal immigration issue passed unanimously out of committee on a day when Sen. Orrin Hatch was asked to do the same thing by the state Legislature during his visit to the Capitol.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51193153-76/congress-hatch-illegal-immigration.html.csp 

Illegal immigration reform not likely until borders are secure, Hatch says

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah legislators Friday wanted to know what Congress and Sen. Orrin Hatch in particular intend to do about illegal immigration.

"There's a lot of frustration," House Minority Leader David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, told the state's senior senator.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705365959/Illegal-immigration-reform-not-likely-until-borders-are-secure-Hatch-says.html

Illegal immigration a priority for Utah legislators

SALT LAKE CITY — A resolution calling on Congress and specifically Utah's congressional delegation to tackle illegal immigration passed a Senate committee Friday.

It was among three new pieces of legislation on the issue introduced into the Legislature Friday, including one calling for the federal government to repay Utah doctors for treating undocumented immigrants.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705365928/Illegal-immigration-a-priority-for-Utah-legislators.html

Sandstrom, Herrod not interested in comprehensive immigration bill

SALT LAKE CITY — Two lawmakers pushing enforcement-only illegal immigration proposals are digging in their heels against efforts to combine their bills with others because they believe the result would be amnesty.
Reps. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, and Chris Herrod, R-Provo, say in a news release a comprehensive bill isn't possible "given the focus of the guest worker bills on amnesty for illegal aliens."

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705365884/Sandstrom-Herrod-not-interested-in-comprehensive-immigration-bill.html

First-year legislator co-sponsoring immigration bill

SALT LAKE CITY -- A local freshman representative is keeping his promise to his constituents by co-sponsoring a Senate bill dealing with immigration.

"During my campaign, I heard from my voters they want something done, and that is the message they delivered to me loud and clear," Rep. Jeremy Peterson, R-Ogden, said during a news conference Wednesday at the Capitol.

http://www.standard.net/topics/utah-legislature/2011/02/02/first-year-legislator-co-sponsoring-immigration-bill

Utah Legislature: Investment Scams and Immigration

A lot of bills addressing illegal immigration were expected as the session began, but so far only five have been introduced. Democratic State Senator Luz Robles brought hers to a news conference yesterday along with its co-sponsor in the House, a newly-elected Republican from Ogden, Jeremy Peterson.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1757890/KUER.Local.News/Utah.Legislature.Investment.Scams.and.Immigration

Illegal immigration debate starting to heat up in Utah Legislature

SALT LAKE CITY — A freshman Republican who is a member of the conservative Patrick Henry Caucus has agreed to champion a Democratic senator's illegal immigration bill in the Utah House.

Rep. Jeremy Peterson, R-Ogden, will co-sponsor Sen. Luz Robles' proposal for accountability and state-issued work permits for undocumented immigrants. Robles, D-Salt Lake, and Peterson held a news conference Wednesday to announce the alliance.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705365771/Illegal-immigration-debate-starting-to-heat-up-in-Utah-Legislature.html

Key lawmakers, advisers huddle on immigration reform

Key lawmakers and activists from all corners of immigration reform held a closed-door meeting in Sen. Curtis Bramble’s office Wednesday night in an attempt to cobble together a comprehensive approach to the issue.

Bramble, who has opened a bill file called “Immigration Reform,” told the roughly 20 people, including House Speaker Becky Lockhart, that it was a chance to pass some meaningful legislation that would avoid pitfalls encountered by Arizona when it passed a constitutionally challenged enforcement-only law.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51178002-76/bill-bramble-enforcement-federal.html.csp 

Complex illegal immigration issue has many faces

Several Utah legislators have bills ready for the legislative session. I attended the November meeting at Dixie State College's Gardner Center that was billed as "A Legislative Forum on Illegal Immigration." I was interested in learning more about the Utah Compact and Utah Sen. Dennis Stowell's Arizona-style bill. Although I was offended by the anti-Pelosi jokes in what should have been a bipartisan gathering to discuss issues and not cast stones at either side, I stuck it out. A "forum," after all, is a venue for public discussion, and all people should feel welcome

http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20110202/OPINION/102020302

Bipartisan pair sponsors alternative immigration bill

Sen. Luz Robles picked up a Republican to sponsor her immigration bill in the House on Tuesday, giving her proposal the sought-after endorsement of an elected conservative who called the legislation “a fair approach to the issue.”

Rep. Jeremy Peterson, R-Ogden, has been in talks with Robles and other supporters of her bill prior to the beginning of the legislative session and said it was the only immigration bill that seemed to tackle “the broad spectrum” of the issue.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51170165-76/bill-card-doesn-enforcement.html.csp 

Immigration bills pile up, focus on birthright citizenship

The state-led battle against illegal immigration continues to gain momentum, with more than 600 bills filed in January.
In all of 2010, state legislators filed 1,400 immigration-related bills and resolutions, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures

. Just under 350 were enacted — a record that states seem on course to break

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700105830/Immigration-bills-pile-up-focus-on-birthright-citizenship.html

Possible change to birthright citizenship debated

SALT LAKE CITY — Days after a resolution was introduced to the U.S. Senate that would deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants, the University of Utah Law school hosted a debate to explore whether the 14th Amendment should be changed.

Both Peter Schuck, a law professor at Yale University, and Margaret Stock, an Alaskan attorney and adjunct professor at the University Alaska Anchorage, said immigration reform is needed, but Stock argued strongly against changes to the 14th Amendment.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705365590/Possible-change-to-birthright-citizenship-debated.html

McEntee: Utah’s Office of Ethnic Affairs is an avenue to inclusion

Confusion and tension filled the legislative committee room Monday as lawmakers restored funding to some programs that just last week seemed to be taking hefty budget cuts.

But the state Office of Ethnic Affairs wasn’t on the restoration list — yet.

That left OEA supporters wondering if it can even survive.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51162255-76/oea-mcentee-ethnic-office.html.csp 

Utah's Latino leaders keep tabs on immigration proposals

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's Latino leaders held the first of many meetings Saturday to inform the community about the progress of immigration proposals on Capitol Hill.

Community leader Tony Yapias says the meeting was to let the community know if the bills will affect them in a negative way. If they do, Yapias says, they won't pass without a fight.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700105431/Utahs-Latino-leaders-keep-tabs-on-immigration-proposals.html

Utah Ethnic affairs office may be eliminated

A legislative panel voted Friday to wipe out Utah’s Office of Ethnic Affairs, as well as to cut funding for cancer research, stop printing tax booklets and eliminate the state’s property-rights ombudsman.

The vote came as the Business, Economic Development and Labor Appropriations subcommittee made preliminary recommendations to shave $16 million from programs, part of an effort by the Legislature to cut more than a half-billion dollars from the state’s budget.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51145225-76/affairs-cut-ethnic-funding.html.csp