Utah lawmakers unveil bills to address public safety, immigration

SALT LAKE CITY — Weeks before the upcoming legislative session, Utah lawmakers unveiled a package of bills to address public safety and immigration challenges.

Republican members of the Utah Legislature gathered at the State Capitol Monday to introduce legislation designed to increase penalties for undocumented immigrants involved in crimes, from human trafficking to organized crime.

“In less than 10 years, Herriman has seen nine times the number of foreign-born residents,” Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, stated. “In just three years, the number of new immigration cases has climbed to nearly 13,000 from 752.”

Pierucci’s bill advocates for harsher criminal penalties, and would require judges to treat undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers as high flight risks when considering bail. The Utah lawmaker’s bill would also mandate the deportation of incarcerated immigrants after they serve their sentences, rather than releasing them back into the community.

Utah lawmakers eye more funding for schools with non-English speaking students

Pierucci is also behind another bill that pushes for emergency funding for schools that see an increase in English Language Learners. She cited a 126% increase in non-English-speaking students over the past few years.

House Minority Leader Angela Romero said she has a problem with how these bills were presented. Namely, her concern rests with the bills’ wide range of topics. 

“Some of the bills correlated with immigration, but then some of the bills didn’t,” Romero said. “I really felt like this could have been a public safety conversation.”

She used as an example one bill that proposes to increase penalties for driving without a license. That bill would also impound their vehicle. Romero says calling that an immigration issue is unfairly stereotyping because American citizens could also drive without a license.

However, Romero is not automatically opposed to all of the bills. She said she is interested in the legislation that protects property rights by involving an earlier law enforcement presence to remove squatters.

Other reading:

• 36% of driver’s license tests failed in Utah
• Board of Education ‘report card’ shows increased English and science scores, decreases in math
• Instances of squatting in Utah are rare, but they happen