Former Utah U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman has weighed in on the side of the federal government in the emotional debate over immigration reform, the Deseret News reported.
Former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman (Ray Quinney & Nebeker)
On Wednesday Tolman, a Republican who served as the state’s top federal prosecutor from July 2006 to December 2009, joined Hispanic community leaders to tout a proposed resolution by state Sen. Ross Romero (D) that calls on Congress to address immigration reform. The proposal and recommends state-issued worker permits and guest worker programs be delayed until January 2013 at the earliest.
With a nod toward the controversy in Arizona, where the state has ordered local police to take on the immigration enforcement powers of the federal government, Tolman and Romero hailed the resolution as the only “rational and constitutional” step forward in the increasingly contentious Utah debate.
“I worry about the state taking up different legislation to send messages to Washington, D.C., without really sending the message: This is a federal issue. Get it solved,” Tolman said. ”The more you have states enacting legislation, the more you get what happened in Arizona.”
He continued: “The debate, whether it’s accurate or not, becomes the color of their skin versus the constitutional rights they may have,” adding, “That’s a dangerous precedent to be setting in every single state that’s battling this issue.”
Tolman said the varying state immigration bills nationwide are creating “massive confusion,” the newspaper reported.
