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SALT LAKE CITY -- Whenever you talk about illegal immigration in Utah, you're going to get heated, emotional reaction from lots of people. A lot of people across Utah are still talking about the bombshell the Sutherland Institute dropped Thursday.
The conservative think tank called on Utah lawmakers to repeal or change Senate Bill 81, the recently-passed bill allowing local law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal immigrants breaking federal immigration laws.
Some lawmakers think SB81 is a good idea. Sen. Jon Greiner said, "I don't think there's any need to repeal SB81. I think its good legislation and I think it's what the citizens of Utah want."
Greiner has a unique perspective. He is also Ogden's police chief and thinks SB81 will help solve crime problems because officers will be helping enforce federal laws aimed at illegal immigrants.
"I can give you hard statistics to support that the illegal group in the state of Utah are committing a disproportionate amount of the crime," Greiner said.
He gave us those numbers, picking a random month out of his files. For those 18 years and older in Ogden, there were 583 arrests in April, of which 201 were Hispanic. That's about 35 percent, about in line with the overall Hispanic population of Ogden.
However, for those under 18, 60 of the 113 arrests were Hispanic. That's 54 percent, nearly double Ogden's Hispanic population.
Greiner didn't know if those Hispanic arrests are illegal immigrants, but he does believe the illegal immigrant population has to be looked at and feels SB81 is one way of looking at it.
"I think it's getting worse," Greiner said. "And if you look at the group of citizens under 18, it's going to be a growing issue."
Then there is the other side of the issue, the side Salt Lake City police chief Chris Burbank is on. He feels SB81 was a mistake from the start and was the first police chief to step forward and say his officers wouldn't follow SB81.
Burbank agrees with what the Sutherland Institute is now saying. "I was very pleased with it, because most of the report as I looked through it speaks to a lot of the things I've been talking about," he said.
His main concern and worry with SB81 is with what he calls a "biased and prejudiced" law. He thinks SB81 will cause illegal immigrants, particularly Hispanics, to not report crimes for fear of being deported.
"We have already seen some of the impact," Burbank said. "Even just the discussion of the chance that its coming into place has caused such an alarm in the community. There's no question there are people who are not coming forward and participating."
Because of that, Burbank says criminals will prey on those illegal immigrants, knowing their crime won't be reported.
"They become the target for harder criminals who want them to deal drugs, prostitution, and a whole myriad of crimes that they have no avenue to get out of that situation because of the fear of deportation," Burbank said.
That's a statement Greiner doesn't agree with. "I wouldn't come to that conclusion. I think if you're a victim of a crime, you're going to call and report it, or somebody is going to call who was there when the crime was committed," he said.
Greiner also says SB81 has nothing to do with victims of crime. "We don't ask the victims what their immigration status in this country is, but if you're a criminal on your way to jail, and we think you're illegal, we're going to do whatever we can to help the sheriff get you locked up and shipped out," he said.
Lisa Roskelly, who is Gov. Jon Huntsman's spokeswoman, said the governor would be willing to listen to what the Sutherland Institute is saying and would even look at repealing SB81 if warranted.
"Governor Huntsman has always felt that immigration should be a federal issue and that it needs to be dealt with at the federal level," Roskelly said.
Even still, Huntsman signed SB81 into law, which the Sutherland Institute is now saying might not be the best idea. It's a sentiment Salt Lake City's police chief agrees with.
"All this research and time and energy that many people challenging me for what I said, had they challenged that energy prior to voting on this legislation, maybe it wouldn't be enacted," Brubank said.
Of course, when you break it all down, the Sutherland Institute is just another voice on a heated issue. Senate President Michael Waddoups says despite the institute's findings, the bill will likely stay as it is.
"Our number one response has to be to our constituents, and my response is that the constituents that I've talked to overwhelmingly are in favor of Senate Bill 81," Waddoups said.
In fact, he believes more people would like to see more restrictions.
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Story compiled with contributions from Alex Cabrero and Marc Giauque.
