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- The Utah House passed HB226 to streamline deportations of immigrants convicted of violent misdemeanors.
- The bill reverses a 2019 law and aligns with federal immigration policies.
- Senate leaders emphasize community safety, not targeting immigrant communities, as the bill progresses.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House voted on Wednesday to enable federal authorities to immediately deport immigrants convicted of violent class A misdemeanors.
Lawmakers approved HB226 in a vote of 62 to 9, with multiple Democrats crossing the aisle to approve one of the central proposals in Republicans' public safety package this legislative session.
The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, would reverse a 2019 law, passed unanimously, that decreased the maximum sentence for a class A misdemeanor by one day, to 364 days, in an attempt to skirt federal immigration policy that allows the automatic deportation of immigrants who are sentenced to 365 days or more.
This one-day reduction was highlighted in discussions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as an obstacle for federal authorities seeking to work with Utah law enforcement to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally, said bill sponsor Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton.
"We are righting the course in Utah and aligning ourselves to make sure ... we are working with the federal government to make sure (that violent criminals) are not in our country when they are here illegally," Pierucci said before the floor vote.
The version of the bill passed by the House narrowed the impacted charges from all class A misdemeanors, which were included in the original bill language, to only those that are "crimes against persons," including domestic abuse, assault and DUIs.
This change is what won the support of at least one Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, who voted against the bill in committee because he thought it could lead to relatively small offenses resulting in family separation.
"I think it does more narrowly tailor it to the people that we need to get off the streets," Stoddard said. "This is something that people care about."
What does the bill do?
The bill addresses several steps in the criminal justice process to streamline the deportation of convicted immigrants and to improve data collection on immigrant-related crime.
Beyond changing the class A misdemeanor sentence, Pierucci's bill would:
- Allow Utah officials to dissolve a nonprofit organization if it is convicted of knowingly transporting unauthorized immigrants into the state.
- Give judges the presumption that individuals are considered a flight risk for bail if they are not lawfully present in the country.
- Require prison employees to submit the immigration status of an individual to a court as part of the probable cause statement.
- Require law enforcement to coordinate with federal immigration authorities before releasing an immigrant charged with a class A misdemeanor or a felony.
These policies have long been implemented by county sheriffs, but Pierucci's bill would be "codifying best practice," she said. "This is what our sheriffs are already doing, we're just putting it into code."
A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted in December found that 86% of all Utah voters said they support Trump's promise to conduct deportations for unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes in the U.S.
Will the Senate pick it up?
HB226 will now appear before a Senate committee before it comes before the higher chamber for a vote.
In response to the passage of Pierucci's bill, Senate leadership reiterated the state's focus on keeping communities safe, not putting immigrant communities on edge.
"We do want violent criminals to leave the state," Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said on Wednesday.
McKell said he heard from a business owner on Wednesday morning who said some of his 300 employees are not coming to work out of fear that they will be "picked up on the way in."
"I don't think that's the intention of anybody here," McKell said. "I know people are fearful, but that's not what's happening and I think we probably need a little bit of help messaging that because it's not happening and we appreciate these folks."
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, told reporters on Wednesday that there is "consensus" about limiting deportation efforts to those who have been convicted of crimes in the state of Utah.
