HB116

[Jennifer Chamberlain]

Hey Dave, I am sure you are already on top of this one, but I have to give some feedback about how I feel about HB116, and I would like to open a discussion on your blog.  I believe that this bill opens the door to amnesty and makes Utah a sanctuary state.  As you know, I have no problems with legal immigration as it is one of the thing that makes our country great!  Illegal immigration is wrong, and there are many unintended consequences of allowing it to occur or reward it with benefits, such as welfare, "free" education, driver's licenses, etc.  Growing up in CA, I have seen what happens when illegals are allowed to use our system...society does not benefit from it, but instead has many more problems. Schools suffer financially and academically, hospitals end up footing the bill for emergency room costs, for problems that weren't ever an emergency, and states spend much more on welfare programs and prisons than they should have to.  The church has instructed us to be compassionate when dealing with the problem of illegal immigration, and I agree that we should be compassionate.  But to me, this does not mean allowing them to continue to be a burden to society.  Compassion sometimes means to kindly allow someone to have the consequences of their actions, so they can learn.  It means to teach them how to do it the right way (restitution).  Our church also tells us to obey the laws of the land.  Now I am not suggesting that we round up all of the illegals and take them back immediately, but eliminateing the incentives would be a great start, and HB116 does not do this.  I have a book called "The Forgotten Immigrant", by Chris Herrod.  If you would like a copy I highly recommend it, and I have an extra I can give you. I have one more if anyone elso is interested.  It touches on many of the things people don't think about when amnesty or other things like it are allowed, and also on the many people who would like to immigrate here from countries (other than Mexico), and have been waiting for years to come here. It is very difficult and sometimes impossible for them, because we tend to significantly favor those south of the border. There are people in other countries who are living in poverty and in danger, and they are often not able to make it here. The only thing I am not 100% on board with in the book is the E-Verify,  only because I don't think it should necessarily be the employers required to use it, but the schools, the hospitals, and the welfare offices.  The last thing we need in this state is HB116.  It is easy to feel sorry for those who have broken the law to get here, but remember that they still knowingly broke the law and we want law abiding people to come to our state and country.  Those who are here illegally should not be allowed any benefits of being an American or Utah citizen, and they should not be able to become a legal citizen until they have gone through the immigration process to do so, and that includes allowing those currently in line to come here legally (from many countries) to come first.  They also should not have access to anything that is funded with public money. Please don't let our state become CA with all of their problems with illegal immigration. Thanks, Jennifer Chamberlain

[David Lifferth]

I just wrote a lengthy, if not rambling response and it was accidentally deleted. I hate when that happens. When I get some time this evening, I will write a (hopefully) more concise description of my position on HB116. However, in the mean time and for the record, I have told many people including at the time that I would have voted against HB116 for a number of reasons.

[David Lifferth]

Jennifer, I appreciate you starting this discussion. Immigration legal and illegal has been an important topic for many years.  I lost the previous blog that I wrote in response to your blog, and hope that this covers the points that I was trying to make.

I told many people since HB116 was passed that I disagreed with key pieces of that legislation and that I would have voted against it if I had been in a position to vote on it.

First of all, immigration enforcement is constitutionally defined for the Federal Government.  For this reason, we pay taxes to the Feds to operate and enforce Immigration policy. However, the Federal Government has not been doing this job. I blame both Dems and Repubs for this lack of Immigration enforcement. Both parties have played politics with Immigration Reform in an effort to gain political advantage. The Dems have succeeded based on the outcome of the Presidential Election.

They tax us and then don’t do the job that justifies this taxation.  This is just one example of the Theft by Deception that makes up a significant part of the Federal Taxation System. I am convinced that this money that is taxed from us to pay for immigration enforcement is actually being redirected to buy votes. 

The bottom line is that we are being taxed to pay for immigration enforcement, but get nothing for that taxation.

As a result of the inaction by the Federal Government on Immigration Enforcement, Utah and many other states that are bearing the burden of unchecked illegal immigration feel the need to do something or anything to address this problem.  So in addition to paying the feds for non-existent immigration enforcement the states are spending money to do the job that the Feds won’t do. Doing the math, we are paying twice, once to the Feds and another to the states, for immigration enforcement.  Most people hate unfunded mandates, but in this case the states are eager to take on this burden and pay this cost because the Feds won’t do it.

This results in a patchwork quilt of immigration laws and enforcement as each state attempts to do what the Federal Govt won’t do. This patchwork creates an inconsistent system that creates magnets in some states and repellents in others. This is a nightmare of enforcement that would never work.

This blog is not a proposal for how to solve the immigration problem, other than to say that HB116 is not the solution.  But I sure wish that we could get a refund on the taxes that we are paying without getting anything in return.