Cox signs several bills into law that take aim at immigrants involved in criminal activity

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Gov. Spencer Cox signed several bills into law that target immigrants involved in criminal activity.
HB226, the most controversial, makes it easier to deport immigrants convicted of certain misdemeanors.
Other bills variously address gang activity, fentanyl trafficking and tougher sentencing for repeat offenders.

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Spencer Cox has signed six bills into law aimed largely at contending with immigrants illegally in Utah, particularly those involved in criminal activity.

Four of the measures, in tandem with stepped-up efforts at the federal level under President Donald Trump that target illegal immigration, bolster the consequences and punishment immigrants convicted of criminal activity face. Another HB183, broadens the pool of immigrants who can't buy guns to include those awaiting responses from the federal government on their requests for asylum and temporary protected status.

Cox offered no comment on the immigration measures, among 200 bills he signed into law on Tuesday and another 100 he inked on Wednesday. Like GOP lawmakers, though, he has said he plans to cooperate with Trump in his efforts to crack down on immigrants here illegally

The most controversial of the immigration measures Cox signed was HB226, meant to make it easier to deport immigrants here illegally who commit certain misdemeanors.

The measure increases the jail term for certain class A misdemeanors by one day to 365 days, a full year, thus aligning with federal policy and making it easier to deport immigrants here illegally convicted of such offenses. The problem for critics, who maintain that the misdemeanor offenses impacted by the change aren't that egregious, is that the one-day increase also makes it easier to deport immigrants here legally who are convicted of such crimes. In light of the opposition of some, the list of crimes subject to the one-day jail term increase was scaled back from the original version, and a provision targeting nonprofit organizations that work with immigrants was removed.

The other immigration-related measures Cox signed into law are:

HB38: The wide-ranging measure enhances the criminal classification of certain violent crimes, property crimes and sexual offenses when carried out by two or more people. That's down from the current threshold of three or more people, a change meant to tackle activity of gangs, including international-based gangs and traffickers of sex workers.

HB87: The new law targets fentanyl dealers, bolstering trafficking more than 100 grams of the drug to a first-degree felony. Much of the fentanyl sold in Utah comes from Mexico, and the measure aims to temper the supply coming to the state.

SB90: The measure mandates tougher sentencing of criminal immigrants here illegally who have been previously convicted of criminal entry into the United States after being deported. If they've previously been convicted of certain crimes, they'd face mandatory sentences.

HB42: The new law will allocate an extra $500,000 to help school districts cope with growing numbers of students with limited English proficiency. It's not punitive, like most of the other measures. Rather, it's aimed at helping districts experiencing the sharpest uptick of immigrant students with little to no English in providing for their educational needs.

Other proposals targeting immigrants here illegally fell by the wayside during the session. They include HB214, which, as originally proposed, would have increased the number of employers required to use systems like E-Verify to make sure potential hires have proper U.S. work authorization. Another failed measure, HB392, would have allowed for impoundment of vehicles of those who drive without licenses.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.