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By Chris Herrod / Mar 3, 2017 / Columnist at Utah Standard News

Sometimes its better to be wrong than right. Today is one of those times.

For over a decade, I’ve warned Utah’s political, civic, and community leaders that Utah’s sanctuary status would one day come back and bite us . . . that our supposedly squeaky clean image of being honest and law-abiding would be tarnished . . . well, Tuesday was that day.

Utah now may add to its claim to fame that we are the sanctuary state that provided the safe-haven for an illegal alien that killed the two fathers of the two families that President Trump recognized in his first speech to Congress. The perpetrator, a twice-deported felon, was using a Utah Driving Privilege Card at the time of his arrest. For the previous decade, Monroy-Bracamonte lived in Utah and had over a dozen interactions with law enforcement . . . and yet nothing was done. Had Bracamonte been stopped in Arizona, rather than Utah, two families would likely have their fathers today but instead Utah leaders have blood on their hands.

Our public squares are dotted with admonishments like:

“Let no man break the laws of land, for he that keepth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.”

Yet such proclamations seem like nothing but platitudes as we have for decades openly flaunted federal laws. In reality, our sanctuary policies become a question of honesty when we think we know better and are above the law. For far too long this state has rationalized our inaction because some believe that tolerating illegal immigration is our “moral” duty . . . but the facts show otherwise.

It’s not moral to discriminate against those waiting in line or to crush the working and middle classes. It’s not moral to ignore the pains of those affected by illegal alien crime. When 28% of legal immigrants nationwide and 71% of illegal immigrants in Utah, come from one country, Mexico, which has less than 2% of the world’s population, that’s the very definition of institutional racism and is immoral. No amount of editorializing by the Desert News can change these facts and citizens lose trust in our institutions that try to convince them otherwise especially when they refuse to cover such crimes.

We openly side with 11 of the most liberal states as Utah is the only Republican State in the nation that gives driving privileges to illegal aliens. Even the liberal state of Oregon has more respect for the law than we do as voters over turned the granting of illegal alien drivers licenses by referendum . . . and it wasn’t even close . . . 67% to 33% but here in Utah the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce reigns supreme.

Will we finally realize that illegal immigration is not a victimless crime or will we simply hear justifications and rationalizations by those responsible? We used to teach responsibility. When we made mistakes, we owned up to them. We expect this of our children so why not of our politicians and media?

But instead, silence.

Disgracefully, not even an acknowledgment from Utah’s mainstream media of Utah’s prominent role in President Trump’s speech . . . not the Desert News . . . not the Salt Lake Tribune . . . not KSL …. No admittance of the disastrous failure of Utah’s sanctuary policies and the failure of the Utah Compact and the HB 116. Even the liberal Atlantic stated that the only significant result of Utah’s misguided efforts was an uptick in fraud as illegal immigrants were given nothing but false hope and taken advantage of while preyed upon by scammers.

It’s time that citizens demand the immediate repeal of our sanctuary policies. Get rid of the drivers privilege card . . . no more in-state tuition . . . and no more “catch and release” policies that have lead to the death of so many Utahns and Americans. There’s plenty of time this session to enact legislation if legislators simply have the courage to do so. Call upon the Governor, the Speaker, and the Senate President to finally do the right thing and put the safety of our families over the interests of the SLC Chamber of Commerce. Quit disfranchising the victims of illegal immigration . . . and the National Democrats mocked when President Trump announced the establishment of VOICE (Victims of Immigration Crimes Engagement) and that American victims would finally be given priority over illegal aliens.

I’m sorry, but for the first time, I’m truly embarrassed by the ignorance and naivety of our leaders. The out-of-touchness has reached new limits . . . no empathy for the millions that have suffered . . . no insight about how tolerance for illegal immigration continues to led to the loss of freedoms especially our religious rights. When illegal immigration flips states from Republican to Democrat (say California) and then such states appoint liberal judges who disregard the Constitution . . . our Constitutional Rights are lost. And so every progressive movement in America. . . the Communist Party . . . the Socialist Party. . . the hundreds of groups funded by George Soros . . . have illegal and unfetter legal immigration as part of their platform. It’s there in plain sight. Trump may have given us a reprieve but it won’t last long if we don’t wake up.

I’m baffled at why so many Utahns voluntarily give up what so many have died to protect. I thought our state, according to long tradition, was supposed to rescue our nation . . . not to lead in its destruction. The Evangelicals seem to be the only ones coming to the rescue as “the Constitution hangs upon a thread.”

Yet our supposedly great leaders, the Romneys, the Leavitts, the Huntsmans, the Herberts, and our storied institutions such as the Deseret News and the Sutherland Institute . . . not only sit idly by . . . but seemingly give a wave of encouragement as freedom passes us by.

Am I alone in feeling this way?

-Chris Herrod