As I pointed out last year, under our federal constitution and various court decisions, American states don’t any power to determine who is or isn’t legally within their borders. That’s a federal responsibility.
That doesn’t stop states from trying, though. There’s the well-known Arizona immigration law, which requires local police to ask for the papers of anyone they reasonably suspect is in the country illegally.
And it has inspired scores of other states to propose something similar.
At last count, 46 of the 50 states had passed some kind of immigration laws or resolutions, with several — among them Texas and South Carolina — considering “Arizona-style” legislation.
You can add Utah to the list, where last week the legislature passed an immigration law, although it differs from Arizona’s in some respects. It doesn’t require a document check of all suspected persons, but only those apprehended for a felony or serious misdemeanor.
Utah also considered a guest-worker program, allowing illegal immigrant to get a permit to live and work in the Beehive State with their families. That drew some criticism from Rep. Chris Herrod, a Provo Republican: “People will see us as weak. They will see we don’t care about the rule of law.”
Essays in the Range blog are not written by High Country News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.
Ed Quillen is a freelance writer in Salida, Colo.
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