HERBERT WANTS WIDER IMMIGRATION REFORM

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday he wants to see more than an Arizona-style enforcement-only bill come across his desk. He wants legislation that addresses all facets of state-led immigration reform. “He encourages Rep. [Stephen] Sandstrom and others to move forward to work together,” Herbert spokeswoman Angie Welling said. “What he wants to see is one comprehensive bill or several bills that are complementary and cover all parts of the spectrum. He doesn’t want to see just one enforcement bill.” Sandstrom’s bill is modeled after Arizona’s law, which requires local authorities to enforce federal immigration laws. (Source: South Lake Tribune)

To me the message seems clear: many states are frustrated by the federal government’s inability to pass any form of immigration reform. The border-states, in particular, are not getting the resources they need to deal with this issue. States such as Arizona and now apparently Utah want to take the matter into their own hands. Ultimately they will not succeed, as the federal government exclusively regulates immigration. However, the efforts by the various states may stimulate Congress into taking concrete action.

It is interesting to note that even U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) may not believe that Congress will or can accomplish immigration reform. Earlier this summer, someone leaked an internal USCIS memo to Alejandro Majorkas, the Director of USCIS. The subject of the memo is “Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform.” Here is a link to that memo.

Increasingly, it looks like Congress will not have the momentum necessary to pass comprehensive immigration reform. If it cannot succeed with this, many hope that USCIS will follow the recommendations of the leaked July 2010 Mayorkas memorandum.