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SALT LAKE CITY — It's an issue pitting Republicans against Republicans.
Convention delegates will vote Saturday on a resolution calling for a repeal of HB116, passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Gary Herbert.
It's a real difficulty for the party because essentially it puts the party on record as saying what the state Legislature did is not what we want to have happen.
–Matthew Burbank, political science professor
On one side are the GOP governor and legislators who backed the guest worker program as the compassionate piece of the much-touted Utah solution to illegal immigration.
On the other side are party members who say the program is just another name for amnesty. All the state needs, they say, is tough enforcement against those here illegally.
The very public in-fighting can only hurt the GOP, says University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank.
"It's a real difficulty for the party because essentially it puts the party on record as saying what the state Legislature did is not what we want to have happen," Burbank said.
That's not how most voters see the issue, according to a new KSL-TV/Deseret News poll that showed a majority of Utahns support the guest worker program.
"What it appears is that a small group of delegates has put the party in a position where they've had to adopt a position that's going to be unpopular with a wide group of voters," Burbank said.
Party leaders won't predict how Saturday's vote will go. But whatever happens, they're hoping delegates are going to be ready to talk about issues other than immigration.
"While the immigration issue is important — I'm proud that we're debating it — I don't want that to be our brand headed into the 2012 election," said Thomas Wright, chairman of the Utah Republican Party.
Wright said the party's top priority should be defeating Democrats, and the top issue: rebuilding the economy.
"The economy is at an all-time low," Wright said. "There's high unemployment, and Republicans believe in limited government, fiscal responsibility. Those are our flagship issues, especially in these economic times."
Whatever they decide, the repeal is non-binding, but it could have serious ramifications for the party in 2012.
GOP leaders say they will remind the delegates to behave themselves as they debate the guest worker program since, after all, they're all members of the same party.
Email: lroche@ksl.com
