Utahns of two minds on immigration reform
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith speaks during a roundtable discussion on immigration reform at the Utah State Capitol on Tuesday. Gov. Gary Herbert invited 31 community leaders to the summit in order to hear their viewpoint on immigration reform.
Attitudes about illegal immigration reflect a conflicted Utah — tough but sympathetic, worried yet pragmatic — according to a new poll commissioned by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Perhaps that discord is best illustrated by polling numbers that show 59 percent support legislation that would give those already here the opportunity to stay and apply for citizenship while at the same time, 47 percent believe immigrants have had an adverse effect on crime in their community. And 60 percent support requiring police officers to check legal residency when there is reasonable suspicion that a person arrested or pulled over is undocumented.
Consider Ramon Campbell, a 39-year-old Republican from Draper who prefaced his thoughts to each question with either “I’m split on that question” or “I struggle with this one.”
Campbell said the question of immigration in Utah is so complex at times, he can actually contradict his feelings within one answer.
He did just that when contemplating the question of whether babies born on American soil should be granted automatic citizenship (the law of the land since 1868) or if that so-called birthright clause should be eliminated.
“It’s a double-edged sword. I think if people could get here and have a child, that child is a U.S. citizen,” he said. “But if a woman is preparing to have a baby and they manage to get across the border, here lies the problem. They rush to the hospital, the taxpayers pay the bill and the parents are illegal but the baby is a citizen. They should be deported, but then the baby stays? My thought is the child should stay with the parents.”
A plurality across the state supports amending the U.S. Constitution to eliminate the birthright clause, 45 percent to 37 percent who oppose such a measure, according to the poll.
That question and the answers are reflective of a darkening mood toward immigrants during a tough economic climate.
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Scapegoats • Pam Perlich, senior research economist at the University of Utah, said the cycle of scapegoating and seeking to limit immigrants’ access to rights and benefits within the country — including through eliminating the birthright clause of the 14th Amendment — appear regularly throughout the nation’s history.
She said, however, any sort of removal of the birthright clause could carry with it serious consequences.
“The kids of immigrants have kids and they fully assimilate. What changing the amendment does is keep those children from being fully participating members of society and it would keep their children from fully participating in society,” Perlich said. “You end up setting up an apartheid system for a group of people who don’t have access to our system.”
There has been a call for repealing the first portion of the 14th Amendment — mostly among a group of tea party candidates. And at least one Utah lawmaker, Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, is looking to author a resolution that asks Congress to change that birthright clause by statute or repealing that clause outright.
Ray and those tea party candidates — largely Republicans — line up with the poll results within the party. Fully 57 percent of Republicans support eliminating the birthright clause through a repeal, according to the poll.
That includes Mary Grange, a 64-year-old beekeeper in Taylorsville.
She said she is frustrated with illegal immigration and said removing the birthright clause is just one step in the solution. She also advocates an Arizona-style law and considers the issue of immigration one of the most serious matters facing both Utah and the rest of the country.
“Think of your own household,” she said. “You wouldn’t want a bunch of people barging into your house and then they’re expecting you to support them.”
Grange is among the 31 percent polled who believe immigrants from south of the border have an overall negative effect on life in Utah.
But she’s in the minority when it comes to that question.
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Impact • Across the state, 37 percent believe immigrants have a positive effect on society while 32 percent say they are unsure of the impact.
The poll shows the numbers split roughly into thirds across all groups identified in the poll — men, women, Democrats, Republicans, Mormons and non-Mormons. The highest positive number — 50 percent —appears among Democrats, who view immigrants having a positive effect.
Michael Clara, state chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, said the results were good news.
“I love those numbers and I love that question,” Clara said. “I think the numbers are reflective of overall attitudes. We have three different camps, and people are split almost evenly in thirds. It certainly reflects what I hear in my community.”
Clara said LDS leadership at the ward level has had an impact in shaping those views and in the community where he serves, it is part of an attitude shift toward humanizing the issue of illegal immigration.
Humanizing the immigration issue doesn’t trump the rule of law, according to the coordinator of the anti-illegal immigration group, Save Utah.
Bill Barton said people break the law when they cross the border illegally and they shouldn’t be rewarded for it. For the former GOP state senator, that’s where the conversation ends. He was also surprised by the number of Republicans who seemed to support some measure of a so-called path to citizenship.
“I thought most Republicans felt they were lawbreakers and shouldn’t be able to gain citizenship,” he said. “I’ve had some pretty hot discussions with more moderate or liberal Republicans I know and I just think it brings many negative impacts to many facets of our society by being soft on them.”
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Economy • The debate on immigration centers mostly on the economy, according to Perlich. She points to the poll results that reveal 42 percent of those surveyed say undocumented workers who come to Utah aren’t taking jobs from Americans — but 33 percent do subscribe to that view. A fourth of those surveyed were undecided on whether immigrants take jobs that others won’t work.
Perlich said the number of those who blame immigrants for taking jobs tends to rise as the economy falters.
“Economists have studied this to death,” she said. “Immigrants have not been the source of unemployment in our communities. This Great Recession was a financial phenomenon as a result of the run-up of the real estate market and the collateralizing of mortgages and banking mess. That’s a lot more complicated story than simply saying it’s immigrants’ fault.”
The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. surveyed 625 registered Utah voters between Oct. 25-27. The margin of error is four percentage points.
dmontero@sltrib.com
© 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune
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