Save Utah - Enforce existing immigration law!

Illegal immigration meeting report

31 March 2010
By Bill Barton

Fellow Supporter of Citizenship:

The March 18 Thursday evening 'Citizen Speakup' meeting at WVC hall last week brought together many factions of constituents and leaders with two legislators, three city council people, representatives of Utahns for Illegal Emmigration Enforcement, SaveUtah and many citizens exchanged discussion on action that took place during the recent legislative session, what is going on in some of our cities and impacts we see in our neighborhoods. Several resident citizens expounded on their personal feelings with the present situations involving illegal persons.

Jennifer Scott, representing Congressman Jason Chaffetz' office was there and gave a comprehensive report of what is going on in Washington. We will include her information in the latter part of the report.

Representative Chris Herrod, one of the leading proponents of anti-illegal immigration legislation in the legislature, was also in attendance and gave a very moving presentation. This information will also be in a separate report to follow soon.

Channel 13 , Fox News, covered the meeting, doing personal interviews with Ron Mortensen and Rep. Herrod. They followed through with a good report on their 9 O'clock news.

Jim Dunnigan , representing parts of Kearns, Taylorsville, West Jordan and West Valley, supported and assisted getting legislation passed in the House that would have required people applying for a business license to show they are here legally (HB 227). It passed the House but died in the Senate. He was also instrumental in committee work to get the bill out. He said, “I also believe if people want to come to our great nation, they should do so legally”.

Gaylon Stewart , from Spanish Fork said that neither Salt Lake or Utah Counties use E-Verify in their hiring practices. The only cities in these two counties using E-Verify are: Draper, Eagle Mountain, Orem, Cottonwood Heights, Riverton, Sandy, South Jordan, Spanish Fork, and West Jordan. Anyone interested from other cities should go to their city office and ask why their city does not participate. The Jordan and Alpine School Districts are the only districts in SL County or Utah County that do not participate in E-Verify.

He said that some cities will say they do a background check and feel that they have no problems and therefore no reason to use E-Verify. If they depend on any state agency, or any private background check that only checks for criminal or financial problems they will still be out of compliance with state law 63G-11-103. E-Verify is free, but any background check that will do the same thing will cost the city $100 or more for each background check.

At any rate the real objective is to insure that the city, county and school districts require all contractors and sub-contractors to place a requirement in their RFP (Request for Proposal) and in the contract language that requires the contractors to use E-Verify. A citizen has the right to ask or inspect public records to see if the city is doing this under a GRAMA Request. See Utah law 63G-2-201

The use of E-Verify will virtually eliminate child ID theft in Utah for the purpose of employment.

Ron Mortensen addressed SB251 and the fact that it protects children from job-related identity theft.

He explained that an illegal alien commits three felonies to get a job with a reputable employer - document fraud, perjury on an I-9 form and identity theft.

In many cases, the Social Security number the illegal alien is using belongs to children. In fact, it is estimated that over 50,000 Utah kids have their Social Security numbers being used by illegal aliens to get jobs.

When this happens the kids have their credit ruined and may even be saddled with arrest records and income tax liabilities. They may be denied means-tested benefits such as CHIP insurance, Medicaid and college financial aid. Perhaps worst of all, their medical records can be compromised with life threatening consequences.

The House and Senate passed SB251 - Verification of Employment Eligibility by large, bipartisan majorities. If employers will just verify the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of new hires, it will end 100% of job-related, child identity theft. It will also protect hundreds of thousands of Utah adults because most illegal aliens only use the Social Security number of another person, not their total identities.

Senator Jon Greiner , who is also police chief for Ogden, was not able to attend, but he sent a statement that was read:

“As with most substantive processes of government, the immigration issue is one that has polarized the different sides of the issue. I personally think of it as a cancer that is eroding the fabric of our great state, fruit of the poisoned tree if you will. The Utah legislature has taken on pieces of the issue and continues to work at ways to reduce it's growth. There have been some good first steps, the last two years, at addressing it. There still remains much to be done.”

As MC for the meeting I mistakenly announced that West Valley and Provo had both subscribed to using E-Verify in their employing practices. I was wrong and was corrected after the meeting. WV folks are encouraged to ask our city leaders to get subscribed to E-Verify.

Here is the balance of our report on the March 18 meeting at West Valley City with several elected leaders and many constituents.

The city council people who attended were:

Representative Chris Herrod has been a leader in the House on many illegal immigrant issues. Through his involvement he has accumulated a great deal of information on the subject.

Here's some surprising statistics by Rep. Herrod:

Crime Rates

In 2008, 9.09% of those processed by the Utah Department of Corrections for murder were identified as illegal aliens.

In fact, 9.26% of all 1st Degree Felons in Utah State Prisons were Illegal Aliens.

These numbers do not include the over 2,000 illegal aliens that are deported from Salt Lake City every year.

A sampling of the type of serious crime is equally troubling.

The following is a percentage of illegal aliens for certain types of crimes.

Percentage of Crime Committed by Illegal Aliens

Rape of Child, 1st Degree 20.87%
Rape, 1st Degree 11.11%
Rape, 2nd Degree 26.67%

Source * Utah Department of Corrections * Inmates on July 14, 2009

Statement by Rep. Herrod

Over the past two years our nation has undergone dramatic changes. Health care reform is the most radical of these changes, but it will not be the last. Amnesty for illegal aliens will be the next radical proposal. No nation has brought so many different cultures, races, and ethnic groups together in relative peace, but there are limits. If amnesty is past, we will discriminate against tens of millions of potential immigrants trying to come to this nation legally and we will cease to be a melting pot. We will become a bilingual/bi-cultural nation and suffer the consequences because of it. The bonds that have held this nation together will be broken and the America that we once knew will cease to exist.

From Jennifer Scott , Representing Congressman Jason Chaffetz:

I came to talk about immigration. But we have to start with health care.

  • March 11 – The Hill reports Luis Guitierrez “can’t support this bill” because “the [CHC] still has concerns over the extent to which the healthcare bill excludes illegal immigrants as well as legal residents from receiving benefits in the healthcare plan.”
  • March 17 – Guitierrez suggested “he could come around if President Barack Obama gave him assurances that the administration would push for comprehensive immigration reform in short order.” He added, “A success and a victory on health care will allow this president to be strengthened and to be able to carry out with more political capital our ultimate goal.”
  • March 18 (today) – Surprise, surprise! Roll Call reports that Guitierrez “will support the package” after “extensive talks with Obama and administration officials.”

In COMPLETELY unrelated news:

  • March 18 (today) – Sens. Schumer and Graham publish a Washington Post editorial which they call a “blueprint for immigration reform legislation”.
  • March 18 (today) – President Obama released a statement supporting the Schumer/Graham blueprint

Four Pillars of the Immigration Framework (As proposed by Schumer & Graham)

  • End illegal employment (biometric social security cards)
  • Enhance border enforcement
  • Manage the flow of future immigration to correspond to economic realities
  • Create a “tough but fair” pathway to legalization for illegal immigrants
    • 3 years back taxes (regardless of how long they’ve been working and not paying)
    • A $500 fine
    • Requirement to learn English
    • Move to the back of the line, but they get to stay here and work

What We’re Doing:

Bridge Resolution: The BRIDGE Resolution reaffirms that the continued peace, prosperity, liberty, and national security of the United States depend upon effective immigration enforcement policies which both welcome lawful immigrants and also prevent entering or remaining in the U.S. illegally.

Specifically, the resolution states that Congress should:

  • make E-Verify mandatory for all employers, and hold employees accountable as well;
  • provide sufficient border infrastructure and manpower to secure and control our borders; and,
  • reject amnesty and any legal status which pardons those here in violation of our laws.

Statement by Senator Margaret Dayton

It is estimated that 50,000 Utah children are the victim of Social Security Number Only, job-related ID theft. In addition, 1,626 companies were found to be paying wages to the Social Security numbers of Utah children on public assistance under age 13. In Arizona, a million children are victims of identity theft.

A nine year old child who was at the 2010 legislature when SB251 was passed has ten people using her identity. She theoretically has jobs in Park City and Wendover and her Social Security number is being used by multiple people to obtain medical services.

I have followed the advice of Attorney General Shurtleff, who said “Employers can help [prevent identity theft] by being more vigilant during the hiring process and verifying an applicant's Social Security number.” When employers verify an applicant’s name, date of birth and Social Security number, 100% of all job-related child identity theft is stopped because adults cannot use a child’s birth date.

In order to protect tens of thousands of Utah children from illegal immigrant driven identity theft, I strongly supported both of the major employment verification bills that passed the legislature - SB81 in 2008 and SB251 in 2010. In addition, I have tried to play a key role in ensuring that state and local governments comply with the provisions of SB81 (passed in 2008) which requires that all governmental agencies and their contractors verify the identification of all new hires. This is of critical importance since if these entities do not comply, they effectively allow taxpayer funds to be used to hire illegal workers who may be using our children and grandchildren’s identities.

SaveUtah thanks all who helped make this meeting a success including West Valley City for allowing use of the hall.

This was conducted through the 'Citizen Speakup' project.