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Utah Representatives Pledge to Support Immigration Reform

News of the Smith raid is stirring up familiar emotions and strong opinions about immigration. Those opinions may differ, but almost everyone agrees that Congress needs to do something on immigration soon.

December 13th, 2006 @ 5:08pm

Richard Piatt Reporting

News of Tuesday's ICE raid is stirring up familiar emotions and strong opinions about immigration. Those opinions may differ, but almost everyone agrees that Congress needs to do something on immigration soon.

ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officers say Tuesday's raid tackled a serious crime: Identity theft.

At the same time, the raid brings up the usual troubling questions about immigration policy: Why just the Swift Meat packing plant? Why now? What happens to immigrants' families and who pays for their children's needs? What will the Swift plant do without these employees?

Policy makers in Washington had a chance to take on immigration reform last year and didn't. It needs to be addressed, more than ever, according to this immigration attorney.

German Flores, Immigration Attorney: "It's not really helping the problem, it really isn't. In fact, what's happening is it's affecting many employers."

It's the familiar argument that immigrants are playing a crucial role in the economy.

At a similar raid at Champion Safe in 2003, 135 people were detained-- about half turned out to be illegal immigrants. The loss of employees devastated the company, which considered a move to Mexico to recover.

There is an ironic byproduct to this raid. For a few of those involved, being detained gets them a hearing in front of an immigration judge which gives them a chance to prove their case and become a legal citizen. They normally wouldn't get that chance because the system is so backlogged.

Today, Utah elected officials again pledged their support for reform.

Rep. Jim Matheson (D), Utah: "I don't condone anyone breaking the law. But there's a broader issue out there, and that is that our immigration system is dysfunctional."

Rep. Chris Cannon (R), Utah: "We want to look at it. We want to make sure we're focused on the right place. We want to send a message. 'Don't be here illegally and do criminal activity.'"

The Swift plant is in Congressman Rob Bishop's district. He also expressed frustration over current immigration policy and continues to push for securing the borders and enforcing the laws already on the books.