The state of Utah has a long history of being agonizingly dumb when it comes to illegal immigration. You may recall the whackadoo antics of the state GOP over the issue in 2007, in which legislative chair Dan Larsen called illegal immigrants “Satanists”… then wept.
Don Larsen, chairman of legislative District 65 for the Utah County Republican Party, had submitted a resolution warning that Satan’s minions want to eliminate national borders and do away with sovereignty. … At the end of his speech, Larsen began to cry, saying illegal immigrants were trying to bring about the destruction of the U.S. “by self invasion.”
If Larsen’s stupidity was relatively harmless because he was clearly a kook, what has happened recently isn’t so easy to laugh at. The Beehive State has never a very friendly place for non-Mormons or non-whites, but it crossed the line into full-bore maliciousness when a list of 1,300 residents was sent to law enforcement labeling them “illegal immigrants” and containing scads of personal information like addresses, social security numbers and confidential medical information.
It hasn’t been verified whether or not the people on the list are there illegally, or whether it’s purely a tactic meant to intimidate the Hispanic population. The degree to which these people’s privacy has been invaded leads investigators to suspect the list originated with a person or people who work for the state. When the person or people’s identity is eventually uncovered, I think it only fair it be made public knowledge where they live, what their phone number is, what their social security and pin numbers are, how many times a day they go to the restroom…
