America’s Reddest (and Stealthiest) Sanctuary State — Not So Stealthy Now

For decades, Utah has been America’s stealthiest sanctuary state, but that all came crashing down when Salt Lake City TV station KUTV, reported that “Denver is paying travel costs to send migrants to Utah — roughly 2,000 so far — even as the state, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County lack capacity to care for them, and as they urge asylum seekers to go someplace else.”

Following the KUTV report, the New York Times, Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal, and the Deseret News (which is owned by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) all reported on Utah’s status as one of the most welcoming states in the nation for individuals crossing the southern border. The Deseret News did, however, continue to tell its readers that “Utah is not officially a sanctuary state.”

Now that Utah’s stealth sanctuary status has been exposed, this article looks at how Utah’s elected officials responded to the KUTV report and what needs to be done to end Utah’s sanctuary state status.

Utah Offers Sanctuary to Illegal Immigrants

The state of Utah has a long history of welcoming immigrants regardless of their legal status and providing them with a place of refuge and protection — sanctuary. Utah is especially generous to individuals illegally in the U.S. — including those with dubious asylum claims. Benefits offered to these individuals include, but are not limited to, in-state college tuition, driving privilege cards, a maximum penalty for a Class A misdemeanor conviction of 364 days, which helps individuals avoid deportation when they are able to plea bargain a felony down to a Class A misdemeanor, gutting Utah’s E-Verify requirement to make it easier for illegal aliens to work in Utah while using children’s illegally obtained Social Security numbers, taxpayer-funded health insurance for certain children of illegal immigrants, etc.

These state-sponsored benefits are supplemented by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which provides a wide range of assistance to all immigrants regardless of legal status — food, housing, employment, legal, and spiritual and other support. This is done either directly by the Church through the establishment of native-language congregations and by calling missionaries to proselytize and to help provide for the temporal needs of migrants (legal and illegal). The Church also supports NGOs and works indirectly with business groups to make Utah a welcoming place through such things as the Utah Compact. Perhaps most importantly, individual Church members welcome all immigrants, regardless of legal status, with open arms because of the role immigration played in the early growth of the Church in the 19th century and because of the persecution that resulted in Church members becoming refugees as they were driven out of numerous states and finally out of the United States in the 1800s. This support for all types of migrants, legal and illegal, is reinforced by the missionary experiences of young men and women in many foreign countries where they come to know and love the people.

In addition, the Church and NGOs such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Catholic Community Services (CCS) provide support and advocacy for all types of migrants. In the case of the Church, the work is done behind the scenes at the legislature where the majority of legislators are members and through its congregations and volunteer programs. The IRC works with government bodies, civil society actors, and local volunteers to support and advocate for still more benefits for new arrivals in Utah. According to its website: “The CCS Immigration Program stands in solidarity with our sister Catholic Charity programs who serve migrants at the border regardless of status. Our Immigration Program is working with all types of migrants.” Their work is supplemented by food banks and homeless shelters, which provide services to new arrivals with no questions asked.

Finally, Utah’s sheriffs have recently had a falling out with the federal immigration detention Ombudsman’s Office. Created by Congress in 2019 and then later weaponized by the Biden administration, the mission of this office is to aggressively enforce a 700-page list of standards that require local jails to provide costly, special treatment of illegal aliens ranging from separate entrances to specified hand lotions. These standards, coupled with the threat of costly lawsuits by watchdog groups, make it impossible for Utah’s sheriffs to hold immigration detainees in their jails. This results in illegal aliens involved in crime being released back into the community.

The Utah Way Exposed – Do It While Denying It

The Utah Way of doing something while denying it may be traced back to a time when members of Utah’s predominant religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), covertly practiced polygamy. Plural marriage went on for years while early Church leaders denied that it existed and then, for many years after polygamy was abolished, the Church downplayed the fact that it ever existed — before being forced to acknowledge and address it more openly in the 21st century.

In an October 2023 blog post that addressed Utah’s illegal-immigrant-friendly policies, I wrote:

If border cities and states were to very publicly transport illegal aliens to Utah, it would expose the Utah Way on illegal immigration for what it actually is — a stealth sanctuary state program. On the other hand, if they were to do it quietly, without fanfare, that would be fully consistent with the Utah Way and Utah could continue to welcome illegal aliens with open arms while still denying that it is a sanctuary state.

We now know that Denver has been quietly sending non-citizens to Utah for many months thanks to the KUTV report that let the cat out of the bag. We also now know that all during this time and in keeping with the Utah Way, Utah’s state and local officials said nary a word while members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints continued to welcome new arrivals with open arms and Gov. Spencer Cox denied over and over again that Utah is a sanctuary state despite all of the illegal-immigrant-friendly legislation that the state has enacted.

Elected Officials’ Response to News Reports

Not surprisingly, when the news finally broke, senior state and local elected officials of both major political parties had nothing to say. In fact, the only ones commenting were their staff members. According to KUTV, Andrew Roberts, chief of staff for Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson (D), said "I have, myself, communicated our displeasure." He then noted that local resources cannot absorb an influx of migrants. A spokesman for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s (D) office first said that their office had "not independently confirmed" that Denver is paying to send migrants. However, he subsequently said that it was his understanding the mayor's office conveyed concerns about it to Denver counterparts, but he was not on the call.

A day after the news broke, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) finally issued a statement on X that could have been taken straight from the movie Casablanca. In a scene from that film, a French gendarme, who knows full well that gambling is going on, but has orders to close down the night club where it is occurring, says: “I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” — as he is handed his gambling winnings and closes the club down. Much like the gendarme, Cox expressed his shock and indignation when he told the people of Utah that, “We recently learned that the Democrat mayor of Denver has been sending illegal immigrants to Utah without proper notification or approval. This is completely unacceptable.”

On the same day, Cox’s office issued a statement saying that they had been told by Denver a month ago that it was sending "illegal immigrants from Denver to locations across the country, including Salt Lake City”, and that "Since learning of Denver's policy, we've worked with Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City to push back on the Department of Homeland Security, the city of Denver, the state of Colorado and the Biden administration demanding they immediately stop this practice.” However, KUTV reported that Denver had been sending border-crossers to Utah for 18 months and that the total to date was roughly 2,000 migrants. This raises the question of just how long the governor and other officials have really been aware of these and likely other transfers while, in the Utah Way, continuing to remain silent and cover them up.

Utah Officials Are Not Tracking Non-Citizen Arrivals

Subsequent reporting by the New York Times revealed that Utah officials are not keeping a tally of non-citizen arrivals, which makes perfect sense since the Utah Way dictates that everything be done quietly and under the table. Interestingly, these are the same officials who take great pride in their data-driven policy decisions and who never tire of saying that you have to be able to measure something in order to effectively address it. However, statistics from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University reveal that new proceedings filed in the Salt Lake City Immigration Court have increased by leaps and bounds since FY 2020. This is a clear indication that Utah is a prime destination for individuals who have recently crossed the border or who have exhausted the free benefits provided by other states.

Utah Tells Border-Crossers Without Family Connections in Utah to Stay Away

Since the news broke, the only acknowledged bipartisan action taken by senior state and local officials has been to approve and distribute a Spanish-language flyer to new arrivals at the border (picture above). That flyer tells them not to come to Utah unless they have family connections since there is no housing or free food available. Gov. Cox did assure Utah voters that no state government funds that he is responsible for are being used to meet the needs of tens of thousands of new arrivals and that local governmental entities and NGOs are providing assistance to the new arrivals. He didn’t specify where their funding was coming from.

Neither the governor nor any other senior state or local elected official has addressed the additional pressure that the continuing flow of thousands of foreign nationals into Utah is putting on the state’s housing market — which is already struggling to meet the needs of Utahns. Furthermore, they have not addressed the additional monetary costs imposed on Utah’s public education system by thousands of students who do not speak English or addressed the negative impact on Utah children and their teachers that occurs when thousands of non-English-speaking students are thrown into already overcrowded classrooms.

Ending Utah’s Sanctuary State Status — 19 Legislative Actions

So now that Utah’s sanctuary status has been broadcast to the world, what should be done to reverse the situation beyond simply distributing flyers at the border?

First, the governor and other senior elected officials at all levels, along with religious, business, and civic leaders, must honestly acknowledge that the warm welcome, protections, and the taxpayer-funded benefits that Utah offers to illegal aliens and asylum seekers, including those with very dubious asylum claims, makes Utah a sanctuary state. That sanctuary status then serves as a magnet for migrants regardless of their legal status. Next, elected officials should acknowledge that their flyer telling border crossers to stay away is nothing more than a public relations gambit and that it will do little if anything to change the current situation.

At the same time, the governor and legislators need to get serious about addressing the problem that they have created. The governor should call the legislature into special session and enact the following legislation regardless of pushback from powerful business interests, the ACLU, various NGOs, and the state’s predominant religious institution.

1. Require all Utah employers to enroll in and use E-Verify for all new hires. Give individuals, including the parents of children whose Social Security numbers are being fraudulently used by illegal aliens to get jobs and that are accepted by employers not using E-Verify, a private right of action so they can sue the employers for damages. Also, give employers who are using E-Verify the right to sue employers who are not using E-Verify for damages resulting from unfair competition.
2. Make the use of a false IDs to obtain employment a felony and provide funding to prosecute this crime whenever it occurs. Require employers to report anyone using a false ID to law enforcement.
3. Require state agencies to develop programs that identify children 12 years old and younger whose Social Security numbers are being illegally used by adults for employment or other purposes, notify the parents of these children, and investigate and criminally prosecute the perpetrators. In addition, report on the number of employers paying wages to children 12 years old and younger and publish the names of employers who continue to do so after being warned. Provide additional funding needed to do this and post the statistics on the Transparent Utah website. Finally, submit this information to ICE, the Social Security Administration, the IRS, and the Utah Tax Commission.
4. Require state agencies to notify adults when their Social Security numbers are being fraudulently used and prosecute those using another person’s Social Security number. Provide additional funding for this.
5. Require all Utah law enforcement entities to strictly enforce Utah’s forgery and identity theft laws by verifying the documents of everyone who is arrested and/or booked into jail. Prosecute those using stolen or fraudulent documents to the fullest extent of the law and post statistical information about arrests and prosecutions on the Transparent Utah website. Provide additional funding for this.
6. Require all jails in Utah to file monthly reports identifying individuals booked into jail who are (1) non-citizens; (2) who have immigration holds placed on them, and; (3) that list the charges filed against each individual. Post these reports on the Transparent Utah website.
7. Restore the maximum penalty for a Class A misdemeanor to 365 days in order to stop protecting non-citizens convicted of a Class A misdemeanor, or who plead a felony down to a Class A misdemeanor, from deportation.
8. Enhance Utah’s human smuggling laws to hold those transporting individuals who are illegally in the United States accountable for their actions.
9. Pass a “know your customer” law that requires money transmitters to collect secure identification from anyone sending funds abroad in order to disrupt the system that supports cartel-sponsored illegal immigration and trafficking and impose a fee on wire transfers. Use revenue from the fees to support migrant-related law enforcement actions and reporting.
10. Collect data to determine the cost of providing hospital and other medical care for illegal aliens, asylum seekers, and refugees and post the results on the Transparent Utah website.
11. Collect data on the costs of providing K-12 education and in-state college tuition for illegal aliens, asylum seekers, and refugees and study the impact that non-English-speaking students have on the progress of other students and on teachers.
12. Collect data from multiple sources to track the number of non-citizens settling in Utah and post the results on the Transparent Utah website.
13. Enhance penalties for individuals who are unlawfully in the United States and who commit crimes in Utah.
14. Abolish Utah’s Driving Privilege Card that allows illegal aliens to drive lawfully in Utah in order to get to and from their jobs, etc. Until that is done, require the Driver License Division to report on the number of cards issued annually and the number of valid cards in existence. Post the reports on the Transparent Utah website.
15. Eliminate in-state college tuition and all other educational preferences/benefits for individuals who are (1) unlawfully in the United States, and; (2) who have not been granted asylum by the courts.
16. Require all state-funded institutions of higher education in Utah to report on the number of illegal aliens and of asylum seekers who have not been granted asylum by the courts but who are paying in-state tuition. Post the results on the Transparent Utah website.
17. Defund Utah’s healthcare program for the children of illegal aliens and use these funds for law enforcement actions.
18. Rescind the 2011 Utah Immigration Accountability and Enforcement Amendments, which would grant work permits to individuals illegally in the United States. Although never implemented, it remains on the books and sends the message that Utah will support amnesty for illegal aliens.
19. Formally disavow the “Utah Compact” and call for it to be rescinded since it serves as a magnet for non-citizens to migrate to Utah.

It is understood that all of the proposed actions will face strong pushback. This opposition will come not just from the advocates for individuals who are unlawfully in the United States or for those who have entered by filing dubious asylum claims, but more importantly by two of the most powerful organizations in Utah — the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Salt Lake Chamber. However, that should not stop the governor and other elected officials who are sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land from doing their jobs.