Politics

Washington –  The state of Utah, where approximately 110,000 undocumented immigrants live, is not a paradise but at least it wants to show the world that "it's not Arizona," approving measures that will benefit the foreigners illegally residing there.

Only the national government can ensure that federal immigration laws are upheld, but the U.S. Congress has shown itself to lack the appetite to address once and for all the problem of illegal immigration.

That gap has given rise to a mosaic of solutions, some of which could be considered unconstitutional. But Utah, known for its picturesque ski resorts and its natural diversity, is now advancing in the area of immigration.

One of the measures approved by the state legislature last Friday requires police to verify the immigration status of any person they arrest for a serious crime, while the other proposes two-year permits for guest workers from the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon and sanctions for businesses that hire undocumented workers outside that program.

To get a guest-worker identity card, undocumented immigrants and their families must first pay a fine of up to $2,500 and have no criminal record. For those who entered the country legally but then allowed their visas to lapse, the fine would be $1,000.

Utah's Republican governor, Gary Herbert, supported the measures adopted by the state legislature within an immigration package, though he has not said when he will sign them.

But just by adopting them, state legislators have made clear that they do not want to be placed in the same basket as Arizona, which earned the label of "racist" from a number of observers after last year's passage there of SB1070 criminalizing undocumented immigrants.

In fact, state Sen. Luz Robles (D-Salt Lake), who proposed the temporary work permit, recently told the Deseret News that Utah wanted to demonstrate that it is "not scared of facing very complicated issues."

Representatives of Utah's lucrative agriculture and tourism industries, which employ thousands of Latino immigrants, feel that the package of immigration measures is healthy for business.

Rather than get involved in the absurd utopia of deporting the undocumented population, Utah lawmakers acknowledged the contributions to the local economy of having cheap labor available and the urgency of halting the separation of immigrant families, according to activists.

In 2010, Utah officially became the first state to authorize a special type of driver's license for undocumented immigrants.

Although a score of states are contemplating laws like SB1070, so far in 2011 similar bills have failed in the legislatures of at least six states, partly due to a combination of fiscal, social and political pressures.

Although it is defended tenaciously by many of its supporters, SB1070 has earned the rejection of companies, police and pro-reform activists.

Perhaps state lawmakers have taken account that the anti-immigrant measures, like the ones supported in 2010 by Republican candidates fielded by the Tea Party, will not solve the immigration problem and will scare away a growing sector of the electorate.

Pro-reform activists hope that sooner rather than later a larger number of politicians will come to accept that reality.