Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Richard Piatt ReportingFrustrations over immigration issues are boiling over across the nation and here in Utah. All the emotion, all the frustration from over the border and across the nation is here in Utah. It's all over a package of immigration reform proposals that has both sides of the issue unhappy.
'We're not criminals', they say. It's a strong statement, full of emotion for high school students in Utah. Under a bill Congress is debating this week, illegal immigrants would be considered criminals, felons. And that's just the beginning.
Neyda Sandoval, West High School Senior: "We want to live the American dream, we want our chance. We want to be American citizens, just like all other immigrants."
Marisol Olayo, West High School Senior: "A lot of our families come here to try and have a better life, and they think we're coming here as criminals."
This week, The US Senate will start debating a House bill 4437. Among other things, it would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally. It would impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and new fences would go up along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border, under this plan.
But proposals also let immigrants work legally in this country, and there are provisions for a 'gateway to citizenship.'
Talk of this bill has unleashed powerful emotions; a half million people protested it in downtown Los Angeles Saturday. Tens of thousands in Atlanta, Phoenix, and other cities also brought up the same issues, and there were more in California today, where it is Cesar Chavez day.
Those emotions emerged in Utah, too. Conservatives, like State Senator Curtis Bramble, successfully championed a Driver's Privilege Card bill in an attempt to address immigrant issues.
Sen. Curtis Bramble, (R) Provo: "In Utah the impact on public education, health care and a host of other issues is one of our most serious challenges."
Bramble says illegal immigrants put a disproportionate strain on public education and health care.
Senator Curtis Bramble, (R) Provo: "Our health care system is unundated with a federal mandate that we provide emergency medical service. You go into an emergency room and you almost have to speak Spanish."
Many immigrants point out illegal workers do the jobs other Americans don't want.
Tony Yapias: "We benefit. People can cry about it all they want, but we benefit-- all of us."
But in the end it will be Congress that needs to pass the reform everyone agrees is needed but whose details are difficult to nail down.
The protests are not over here in Utah. Sunday April 9th, Utah Latinos and Hispanics will march to push for comprehensive immigration reform.
