Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah's 2010 Compact set a principled approach to immigration, praised nationally.
- Key figures, like Gov. Cox, support it, but some fear shifting principles.
- Economists emphasize Utah's need for immigrants; original Compact principles remain relevant amid challenges.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has received national praise for creating principled immigration policy during contentious times in years past.
Now that we're in a similar era, many wonder how we'll respond now.
"We stood out as a state to say we're going to be reasonable in our approach," Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said.
She's talking about The Utah Compact. The year was 2010, when 120 business, government, religious and community leaders braved a chilly afternoon on the Capitol steps to sign the Utah Compact.
"On that day, everything had come together. We had a document that was a declaration of principles that would guide our immigration discussion," said Natalie Gochnour, with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
At that time, the immigration debate was growing increasingly hostile. Our neighbor to the south, Arizona, passed a law that obligated police to determine someone's immigration status if there was reasonable suspicion that a person was in the country illegally. Key portions were later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
That contention motivated leaders in Utah to find a more tempered approach.
"You could feel some of the same turmoil, controversy, unrest that was being felt in Arizona, and Utah leaders didn't want that," said Gochnour.
The Utah Compact detailed five guiding principles for immigration reform:
- Federal Solutions
- Law Enforcement
- Support for Families
- The Economy
- A Free Society
It exemplified the "Utah way," forging our own policy path and the Compact put Utah in the national spotlight.
"It was praised by the left. It was praised by the right. It resulted in editorials in many states that praised it, and then there were a lot of states that tried to replicate it," said Gochnour.
The states of Texas, Florida, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and Georgia all introduced their own compacts on immigration.
Fast forward to today, we again find ourselves in a polarizing political climate. Is there still broad support for the Utah Compact?
"I believe in the Utah Compact," Gov. Spencer Cox said. "It's something that I think most Utahns support and something that again, our country could certainly use."
But others aren't so sure that support still exists.
"I really fear we've shifted away, perhaps, from the principles of the Compact," Mayor Wilson said.
Some original signers are calling for another signing of the document to offset the negative rhetoric. Local leaders last reaffirmed the principles in 2019.
"I think it would be good if we could reaffirm once again that that's the Utah way," Bob Babcock, a construction lawyer, said.
The "Utah way" may not be enough to bring leaders back to the signing table, but economic realities might.
Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, said the Compact has had an impact on business in Utah.
"It stabilized the workforce, which is so critical to our economy," he said.
As one of the fastest-growing states, economists say Utah needs immigrants.
"Immigrants are a big part of our economy. Immigrants pay taxes," Gochnour said. According to the American Immigration Council, there are 304,900 immigrant residents in Utah, who pay $1.2 billion in state and local taxes.
Recognizing the impact, state lawmakers tried to follow up on the Utah Compact with laws that allowed migrant worker visas and created a guest worker program.
But they were challenged in federal court on the grounds that they overstepped federal jurisdiction, and neither was ever implemented.
That underscores the importance of the Utah Compact's first principle of federal solutions and the need for reform.
What the Compact did accomplish was to show that bipartisan policy is possible.
"I think that's what really was the great victory of the Utah Compact, was getting people talking about what they had in common on an important issue such as immigration rather than just fighting over their differences," Miller said.
