The western states of Idaho and Utah have begun to pull back from their former support for an influx of illegal aliens as they continue to struggle with the effects of their previous open-door policies, but cheap-labor employers and establishment Republicans are fighting against the efforts.
In Utah, for instance, state lawmakers have begun to work to repeal 2011’s pro-illegal migrant worker program and to end subsidized college tuition and home loans for illegals, Deseret News reported.
The move to repeal these measures faces stiff resistance from the GOP establishment and local employers who want the cheap labor, but this is the first move against the state’s previous support for untrammeled migration in more than a decade.
The paper notes that the “illegal immigrant population in Utah doubled from an estimated 90,000 to nearly 180,000 during the six-year period after state leaders recommitted to the principles outlined in the Utah Compact on Immigration in 2019.”
But in the intervening years, Utah communities have struggled to support mass migration as integration has not kept pace with expectations and social services and school budgets have groaned under the continuing burdens.
The Deseret News added that Salt Lake County has suffered the third-highest rate of illegal migrant arrivals in the country, a fact that has caused serious pressures on the county. Along with that, Utah itself became the sixth most popular landing spot for illegals in the nation, causing a lot of issues all across the Beehive State.
The crush of illegals has caused havoc by bringing in tens of thousands of students into state schools who could not read or speak English, causing schools to up staffers and teachers to deal with the Spanish-only problem. It also wildly increased the number of car accidents and traffic injuries and deaths as illegals without driver’s licenses flooded the roads. These and more financial problems were costs borne by Utah’s taxpayers.
The latter is particularly problematic. The News notes that “unlicensed drivers now account for 45% of the city’s DUI arrests and 40% of hit and runs. The issue is statewide: 2024 saw 262 crashes in Layton, 91 in St. George and eight highway fatalities involving unlicensed drivers.”
The mounting problems have finally caused Utah’s elected officials to begin moving away from previous open-door policies.
One of those officials is Republican state representative and House Speaker Mike Schultz.
“There’s an important balance,” Schultz told the paper. “I think Utahans have always been very open and welcoming, but we also want to make sure that we’re not straining our resources and that we can integrate those that are here.”
Another is GOP Majority Whip Rep. Candice Pierucci.
“The state is doing our best to try and manage what has happened over the past four … years, and I think that we’re moving in a direction to try and right some of those policies that might have made us a magnet,” Pierucci said.
Consequently, a number of different bills to put more limits on illegal migration, put an end to funding for illegals, and to help the federal government arrest and deport illegals are making their way through the state capital in Salt Lake City.
But the establishment is fighting hard against the measures. In another case of the cheap-labor establishment, the Utah Senate is trying to torpedo HB 294, a bill that would reset E-Verify from companies with 100 employees and up down to 50 employees and up.
Nearby Idaho is also moving to reverse its lax restrictions on illegals.
The Idaho House recently passed House Bills 700 and 704, which would require E-Verify, to put penalties on businesses that hire illegals and tighten controls on illegals getting jobs in the state. The two bills were passed out of the House with the recommendation that the Senate pass them quickly, however, the bills were pushed into the Senate’s State Affairs committee, which is often “where bills go to die,” activists in the state say.
The legislature is also working on six bills to require collection of immigration status focused on schools and hospitals.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: Facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston, or at X/Twitter @WTHuston
Read the full article here