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SALT LAKE CITY -- A state lawmaker is proposing legislation for a Utah-based guest-worker program to bring in a legal workforce to do the job often taken by undocumented workers. Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, tells KSL the federal government has failed at immigration reform so the states need to step up and do what they can themselves.
"What I'm talking about here is legal guest workers who are here temporarily. I think amnesty would basically make a mockery of rule of law in this nation," Stephenson says.
His proposed guest-worker program would allow an employer to sponsor a guest worker. That sponsorship would include having the employee or the employer put up a bond of around $20,000 to start with. The employee would also have a percentage of their pay put into a fund that would be held until the worker finishes their job contract. It would be an enticement for them to complete the job and not disappear.
Once a job is complete the worker would return to their home country. If they wanted to pursue citizenship they would have to do so separately and go through the already existing federal channels.
Stephenson says all expenses related to monitoring the employee would come from the employee and employer and not from taxpayers. The employee also would pay their own health care costs.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
