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- Utah Republicans are proposing at least 10 measures addressing illegal immigration for consideration during the 2025 legislative session.
- The proposals include increasing penalties for crimes by immigrants here illegally and bolstering employment verification guidelines.
- Additional measures would address school funding for English learners and restrict health coverage for certain immigrant kids.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's Republican lawmakers have crafted at least 10 measures to contend with immigrants in the country illegally, most of which are coming from the Utah House.
They're designed to augment penalties for crimes committed by people in the United States illegally, particularly if they belong to gangs or traffic fentanyl and to make it tougher for jailed immigrants to be released from incarceration. The varied measures, some still being written, would also require more Utah companies to take steps to make sure would-be employees are in the country lawfully and increase the penalty for driving a car without a license.
As more Utah schools contend with inflows of immigrant students, yet another measure would augment funding to school districts experiencing spikes in enrollments of students with low English-language proficiency.
Gov. Spencer Cox has said he'd cooperate with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump in deporting immigrants here illegally. GOP House and Senate members are similarly focused on the issue and held a press conference on Jan. 6 to outline their efforts to combat illegal immigration and contend with those here illegally.
Here are some of the legislative measures in the works, many of them outlined on Jan. 6:
HB38: The measure, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, focuses on criminal activity involving gangs and organized criminal groups.
More specifically, it would enhance the criminal classification of certain violent crimes, property crimes and sexual offenses when carried out by two or more people, down from the current threshold of three or more people. The measure would also enhance the crime of pressuring others to join or stay in criminal gangs, making it as serious as a second-degree felony depending on the circumstances.
The proposals come amid heightened concern among some about the presence in Utah of members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as more Venezuelans enter the United States.
HB42: Sponsored by Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, HB42 would allow distribution of "emergency funding" to school districts facing a spike in enrollment in students learning the English language.
Districts experiencing increases of 50% or more in the number of students learning English above the average figure for the prior three years could apply for funds. The measure would allow for disbursal of up to $5 million per year to help English-language learners.
HB87: Sponsored by Rep. Matt Gwynn, R-Farr West, HB87 would make possession of 100 grams of fentanyl, about 1,000 doses and a "trafficking amount" of the drug, a first-degree felony. Suspects would face mandatory prison sentences in certain circumstances.
Most fentanyl coming to the United States from abroad is produced in Mexico, according to a December report by the Congressional Research Service, while many have blamed insufficient security at the U.S.-Mexico border for increasing amounts of the drug on U.S. streets. Gwynn attributed the tougher proposed penalties in his proposal to the lethality of the drug in small doses.
"A lot of these traffickers, they know the laws of economics, right? And if they keep losing supply, if they keep losing their mules, they're going to have to rethink the amount of fentanyl coming into Utah, the amount they're pushing," Gwynn said at a town hall gathering in Ogden on Wednesday. "So if we can't get rid of it completely, the idea behind it is, theoretically, we at least reduce the amount of supply coming into Utah."
HB178: Sponsored by Rep. Neil Walter, R-St. George, the proposal would eliminate provisions in Utah law letting certain immigrant children access health care coverage via the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.
Other health initiatives provide coverage for certain juvenile legal permanent residents, and SB217, passed in 2023, provides coverage via CHIP to around 2,000 other immigrant children, including some here unlawfully. HB178 would essentially reverse the 2023 measure, and Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, the SB217 sponsor, said she'd be opposing Walter's proposal.
Walter worries the specter of health coverage under SB217 serves as an inducement for immigrants to enter the country illegally and come to Utah. He understands all recipients under SB217 are here illegally. "I felt that it was an incentive that we need to be careful about," he said.
HB183: Sponsored by Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Syracuse, the bill would add more specificity to the classes of immigrants who would be prohibited from buying or owning guns and other weapons.
As is, immigrants illegally in the United States can't own weapons, per Utah law. Lisonbee's measure would add to that, also prohibiting gun ownership among those who have applied for asylum or temporary protected status and await a response from immigration authorities.
HB211: The bill, sponsored by Rep. Colin Jack, R-St. George, would enhance the classification of felony crimes committed by immigrants who have previously been convicted of illegal reentry into the United States after being deported.
A third-degree felony, for instance, would become a second-degree felony, and a second-degree felony would become a first-degree felony. A first-degree felony would still be a first-degree felony.
HB214: Sponsored by Walter, the measure would bolster the number of firms that have to use systems like E-Verify to make sure potential hires have proper U.S. work authorization. As is, private employers with at least 150 workers have to use such systems, but HB214 would broaden that to firms that employ at least five workers.
The proposal would also subject those who use fake identity documents to get work to criminal prosecution under Utah's fraud statutes.
HB226: Sponsored by Pierucci, HB266 is a multi-pronged proposal that would apply to certain nonprofit organizations that work with immigrants and suspected and convicted criminal offenders in the United States illegally.
Nonprofit groups that help bring immigrants in the United States illegally to Utah could face dissolution in the state, per the proposal. As the immigration debate has intensified, some have charged charitable groups that work with immigrants to help facilitate their transit around the country.
The measure would also require Utah sheriffs' officials to contact U.S. Department of Homeland Security representatives before releasing immigrants here illegally who are charged with violent felonies. As required, sheriffs "shall coordinate with federal authorities to transfer the custody of a released individual into federal custody," the measure reads.
Furthermore, the measure directs judges "to view undocumented (immigrants) or asylum-seekers as high flight risks" when considering bail, reads a fact sheet supplied by Republican lawmakers.
Finally, a class A misdemeanor would be punishable by up to one year in jail, up to one day from 364 days. That aligns with federal guidelines and stipulations that prohibit deportations of criminal immigrant offenders who have served less than 365 days.
SB55: The measure, sponsored by Sen. Heidi Balderree, is described in the Republican fact sheet as a means of protecting property rights "by involving law enforcement earlier to remove squatters." Lisonbee is the House sponsor.
According to the bill summary, it "authorizes property owners or their agents to request assistance from the sheriff for the immediate removal of a trespasser from a residential dwelling under certain conditions."
SB90: SB90, sponsored by Sen. Cal Musselman, R-West Haven, would enhance the charges for those in the United States illegally who are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies. A class C misdemeanor would become a class B misdemeanor, for instance, and a second-degree felony would become a first-degree felony.
Likewise, minimum penalties and prison terms applicable to immigrants here illegally are spelled out in each charging category. Those convicted of first-degree felonies would face four to six years of extra prison time "in addition to any other penalty the court may impose," the measure reads.
Rep. Matt MacPherson, R-Salt Lake City, is in the process of crafting a measure related to unlicensed drivers, one more element of the GOP efforts.
Republican lawmakers also say they plan legislation imposing a 2% fee on international wire fees that is reimbursable for tax filers or those who present state identification. Remittances by immigrants in the United States to their home countries are a significant source of income in some recipient nations, like El Salvador and Mexico.
The Republican fact sheet on GOP lawmakers' varied initiatives says Lisonbee is planning a measure to expand detention capacity in Utah to aid in efforts to deport immigrants here illegally who commit crimes.
