Two Utah Republicans are at odds over an immigration proposal that would increase the number of work visas for migrants and offer amnesty to some illegals.
“Utah should take a hard pass on bringing in more cheap foreign labor. Now that long-standing bipartisan immigration laws are actually being enforced, lawmakers are being lobbied hard to reopen the spigot. Instead of feeding that dependence on foreign workers, we need policies that help put our own citizens to work,” Chaffetz wrote in an op ed for the Deseret News in response to a bill recently sponsored by Utah’s Republican U.S. Senator John Curtis.
Sen. Curtis filed a bill this month that would allow the states to bring in millions more migrants to take American jobs, and part of the bill would also hand amnesty to an untold number of illegal aliens if they apply for the program.
Curtis claims there is a labor shortage and businesses have urged him to open a way for more migrants to enter the country legally to take American jobs.
“I’ve heard time and again from small business owners, farmers, and ranchers across Utah how difficult it has become to hire enough workers to meet growing market demands,” Curtis said in a statement announcing his bill.
The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to create a new non-immigrant classification for state-sponsored importation of migrants for a three-year period.
Curtis, who was a Democrat, but switched parties ahead of running for Mayor of Provo in 2009, introduced his bill in cooperation with hardcore, left-wing Arizona Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly.
Chaffetz, a former Utah congressman, strongly opposes the bill and says it’s long past time for lawmakers to champion American workers instead of importing more “cheap foreign labor.”
He also accused Curtis of trying to ease in amnesty for illegals.
“This is just another step toward amnesty. Furthermore, the plan creates institutional incentives that systematically favor importing workers over mobilizing or compensating the existing American workforce,” Chaffetz wrote.
“I categorically reject this approach. It prioritizes cheap labor over healthy wages and affordable housing. We can do a better job of matching people who need and seek work with available jobs. That’s the kind of legislation we should prioritize,” he continued.
The majority of Republicans in Utah have been notoriously pro-illegal migrant, and the state party has ushered through many bills dedicating millions of state tax dollars to giveaways for migrants. As a result, the population of illegals soared by 100,000 since 2019 as they followed the freebies being handed out by state lawmakers.
But as the number of illegals grew in Utah, so did the crime stats, and some state Republicans began putting the brakes on the lax migrant policies. Their efforts, though, have faced stiff resistance from establishment Republicans like Sen. Curtis.
Chaffetz went on to say that importing more migrants takes job opportunities away from Utah’s students who are graduating from college and high school and who are discovering that “entry-level jobs are harder than ever to find.”
The former Rep. also disputes Curtis’s claim that Utah has a labor shortage.
“Utah does not have a general labor shortage. Utah’s employment-population ratio rates have decreased, even when adjusting for an aging population,” he explained. “The number of Utahns who are actively employed is significantly lower since 2006. Among men, the employment population ratio has dropped by 6.4 percentage points between 2006 and 2024. Too many have simply left the workforce and are not even counted in current unemployment statistics.”
Chaffetz next blasted Curtis and the companies the Sen. says are claiming they need foreign labor, asking “Who are these companies? What kind of jobs are available? What wages do they pay?” and also asking if they are the same companies that are firing Americans and hiring migrants, or even shipping jobs overseas.
The ex-congressman added that Utah should be looking to get American into the workforce, “Instead of bending over backward to offer a pathway to employment and potentially citizenship” for illegal aliens.
“The temptation to rescue industries long dependent on cheap foreign labor is one we must resist. Amnesty proposals, whatever form they take, prioritize all the wrong things,” he concluded.
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