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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Highway Patrol does not want to take advantage of a program to cross-deputize troopers as immigration agents.
The UHP has joined a growing line of departments that want nothing to do with a controversial part of a new immigration bill, SB81.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah Department of Public Safety Director Lance Davenport says the decision is mostly about money. He says if the Legislature wants troopers to become immigration agents, they need more resources. State budge cuts already have forced them to have fewer troopers.
Davenport also told a Latino town hall meeting Wednesday night he's mainly concerned about traffic safety and making sure everyone feels safe in Utah, including immigrants.
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The man who wrote Senate Bill 81 says he's got no problem with departments opting out of parts of the new law, but he says there are other parts that just aren't optional.The highway patrol is one of the largest police agencies in Utah.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank has declined to have his officers cross-deputized.
West Valley City sent a statement to KSL that reads in part: "West Valley City's law enforcement efforts, as they pertain to illegal immigration, will continue to focus on the areas we have heretofore focused on: criminal behavior. This focus applies to illegal immigrants in the same way that it does with our citizenry.
"We will not be changing police enforcement efforts to specifically target illegal immigrants, but at the same time, we have always used the tools at our disposal to help proper authorities remove illegal immigrants caught in the act of criminal behavior. We will continue to do so. We will also look for ways to cooperate with the federal government as they may help our goal of stopping crime, just as we do with other federal assets that help in our battle to stop crime."
Salt Lake County will enforce immigration laws only against inmates booked into its jail.
John Martineau, chief deputy with Daggett County Sheriff's Department, said in a statement to KSL, "I wanted to let you know that I support HB 81, I am a Law Enforcer, not a Law Maker. I may disagree with many laws that are on the books, but I took an oath to protect the constition of the United States of America, also to enforce local, state, and federal laws of our country. It is our job to obey and enforce the laws that are supported by the people in the communities that we serve."
Lawmakers passed SB81 last year. It will go into effect July 1. It gives police agencies the option of enforcing federal immigration laws.
Story compiled with information from Mary Richards and Adam Thomas.
