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SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Spencer Cox said he will sign a bill that requires students to present certain types of identification to play sports despite calls from immigration advocates for him to veto the bill.
Opponents of the bill say HB209 would effectively bar immigrant youths who don't have or cannot easily access the identification documents required by the bill. HB209 was originally written to allow online, private, charter and home-school students to play sports outside of their home district but was eventually combined with HB463, which prohibited public schools from participating in athletics associations that do not collect a birth certificate or other ID during registration.
"There were some concerns about the bill as it was going through. The bill was changed, and we thought all of those concerns were addressed," Cox said during his monthly news conference Thursday. "The purpose of this bill was actually to allow more participation in sports, not less."
HB209 sponsor Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan told KSL.com previously that community advocates are misinformed about his bill and that it will impact very few if any undocumented students' ability to participate in sports.
"The same documentation that an individual student would have to give in order to register in the school themselves are the documentations that are accepted to participate in athletic sports," he said.
Cox added the required identification — which is described in the bill as a birth certificate or, for noncitizens, another state-issued or federally recognized ID — could include foreign documents as well.
We're not trying to exclude anybody from playing, and I feel comfortable that if it is impacting people, we can fix it and I've got a promise to do that.
– Gov. Spencer Cox
Cox said after receiving a letter from nonprofit Comunidades Unidas regarding their concerns about the bill's impacts on immigrant students, he reached out to Teuscher, who he said agreed to look over the bill during the next month and meet with all the high schools and middle schools in the state.
"If there are students that would be impacted by this, we will call a special session to come in and change the bill," Cox said. "We're not trying to exclude anybody from playing, and I feel comfortable that if it is impacting people, we can fix it and I've got a promise to do that."
Maria Montes, Comunidades Unidas community engagement and organizing manager, said the organization is grateful that the governor acknowledged the group's petition but that it is disappointed with his decision.
"We do not think that it is an appropriate measure to wait until after the bill is signed and the law is implemented for the governor and his office to do something about it," Montes said, adding that the group has yet to recieve any communication from Cox's office. "Families still want to meet with Gov. Cox. He has yet to hear from us about our stories or narratives directly and so we want to be able to speak with him. We know what the impact will be and we're ready to share stories of impact."
Montes said while it's great that foreign documents may be accepted, Comunidades Unidas still has two major concerns with the bill.
"If the student cannot provide a birth certificate, they would still be mandated under the policy to provide a state or federally issued ID, which undocumented people cannot access in this state," Montes said. "The second concern that we have is that there should not be an expectation whatsoever for students to provide this type of documentation to be able to participate in after-school activities or play sports. It's a barrier to ask students to provide identification or any other type of personal information in order for them to participate in extracurricular activities."
