Ronald Mortensen

Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration

Testimony: SB225 – Extending the Implementation Date of HB116 – Utah Guest Worker Law

I recognize that five members of this committee voted for HB116 in 2011 and one other member actively supported it prior to being elected to the Senate.

I also recognize that the committee is going to pass this bill out today. However, I think it is important to point out why this sends the wrong message to the citizens of Utah and to the nation.

First, the Utah guest worker program is clearly unconstitutional according to the constitutional note on the original bill, confirmed by recent Supreme Court rulings on other state immigration bills and acknowledged by Lt. Governor Bell and other proponents of HB116.

Second, HB 116 is a fatally flawed model for national immigration reform.

  • HB116 allows gang bangers, drug dealers, identity thieves, pedophiles, human traffickers, etc. to obtain a Utah guest worker permit as long as they have not been convicted of their crimes (lines 753-755). If they have been convicted they can still get a family permit because no background check is required for family members (lines 796-803).
  • HB116 makes it less expensive to hire an illegal alien than an American citizenbecause permit holders are ineligible for unemployment benefits (lines 718, 911, 1329) and they may be required to have their own health insurance (lines 758-761).
  • Not surprisingly, HB116,which was primarily written by the Salt Lake Chamber, makes “guest workers” virtual indentured servants. HB116 isdesigned to benefit employers not illegal aliens and requires illegal aliens to have and maintain work contracts. (lines 750-752, 869-877).
  • HB116 never allows illegal aliens to regularize their immigration status so they are always subject toarrest and deportation. In fact, the state is required to turn illegal aliens over to ICE when their permits expire or are revoked (lines 933-947).
  • HB116 requires employers to knowingly hire illegal aliens and to violate payroll and income tax laws by turning taxes over to the state rather than to federal agencies as required by law (lines 678-683).
  • HB116 opens the state to a massive inflow of illegal aliens by allowing any individual who has ever lived or worked in Utah before May 10, 2011 to obtain a Utah permit even if they no longer reside in Utah. (line 746)
  • HB116 requires an impossible to obtain waiverto avoid being declared unconstitutional (line 651). In a conference call with ImmigrationWorks USA, Robin Riggs of the Salt Lake Chamber openlyacknowledged that proponents always knew that a waiver was not possible.

This is just the tip of the iceberg but it would take too long to cover all of the problems with HB116.

Therefore, I’ll just ask everyone to read the bill before it comes to the floor of the Senate. If you still think it is a model for the nation, then vote to extend the deadline. If not, then repeal it just as you recently repealed the Utah Commission on Immigration and Migration.

In conclusion, I would note that Individuals and groups across the political spectrum support the repeal of HB116. These include Bishop Wester of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, Republican state and country delegates, the ACLU, the Utah Coalition on Illegal Immigration, the Salt Lake Tribune and the many voters who helped defeat the bill’s chief sponsor, Bill Wright, in his reelection bid.