SALT LAKE CITY — Community organizers pushing for immigration rights and reform are disappointed in Utah Gov. Spencer Cox's weekend trip to the border.
Cox visited Texas with over a dozen other GOP governors in support of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Together, they signed a letter in support of Abbott's stance of "self-defense," writing:
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border."
Liliana Bolanos with Utah With All Immigrants said Cox's support surprised her.
"I thought it was something that the governor also prioritized and stood for," she said. "I felt like he failed the minority groups that include the undocumented residents here in Utah by him encouraging that kind of violence."
According to the American Immigration Council, immigrants (documented and undocumented) make up 8.4% of Utah's population.
According to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, there are 4,532 undocumented students in higher education, and 1,000 undocumented students graduate high school each year.
"This message that the people at the southern border are here to steal our jobs is not true," said Bolanos.
Bolanos said asylum laws need re-organizing.
"What are we saying with our dysfunctional immigration system? We're saying, 'Just come on over to the border and then we'll figure it out once you're here.' We said that but we complain when it happens, right?" she said.
Senators released a billion-dollar bipartisan bill on Sunday that is supposed to impose tougher asylum and border laws.
President Joe Biden wrote that it's "fairer and more efficient while protecting the most vulnerable."
Bolanos will wait to decide if it really will help her cause.
"There is so much out of my control with my immigration status that at the end of the day, I want to choose to at least have hope," she said.
