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SALT LAKE CITY — The bipartisan immigration reform legislation is packed with provisions and still a work in progress. But a recent poll shows that most Utahns think the time to make a compromise on the bill is now.
The poll shows most people are ready to embrace the concept of a pathway to citizenship, guidelines for who can cross the border and who can stay, and a crackdown on employers who hire illegal labor. Support is there, even as the bill itself is still being molded, changed and debated. There are deep discussions over stronger enforcement language in the immigration reform bill this week.
Ninety percent of the 525 Utahns who were polled feel it's important to fix the nation's immigration system this year. The poll is a joint bipartisan survey by conservative group Harper Polling and the more liberal group Public Policy Polling. The results didn't surprise immigration attorney Tim Wheelwright.
"We are at a critical time where we have an opportunity to bring forth meaningful immigration reform that's going to benefit our economy, our communities, the individuals who receive it, and make us a better country," Wheelwright said.
The poll asks about the long list of requirements which would provide a path to citizenship; 71 percent say they support that proposal while 18 percent oppose it.
A total of 74 percent of Utahns in the survey also support requirements that would ensure immigrants learn English, pay taxes, pass a criminal background check and wait 13 years.
Is it important to fix the immigration system this year?
- 90% think it's important
- 9% think it's not important
- 1% are not sure
Do you support the "Gang of 8" reform legislation?
- 71% Yes
- 18% No
- 11% Don't know
Do you support the conditions that would ensure immigrants learn English, pay taxes, pass a criminal background check and wait 13 years to become a citizen?
- 74% Support
- 21% Oppose
- 5% Don't know
Those provisions are partly what Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is working on.
"I don't want to punish these aliens, I just want to make sure that these people are treated no better or worse than us citizens and resident aliens who have abided by the law, especially when it comes to federal benefits and taxes," Hatch said.
Hatch is among those who feel waiting could put the debate off another 10 years. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, does not support the proposal. He says the poll doesn't reflect the reality of the Gang of Eight bill.
Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams calls the bill a starting point on a pressing issue.
"I'm disappointed by Sen. Lee's lack of constructive input. I believe that we need to be coming to this conversation not necessarily with blanket support, but with the recognition that the system is broken," McAdams said.
There seems to be the will to keep the immigration reform bill alive, but doing that will be tricky, as both Republicans and Democrats bring varying ideas into the negotiations.
