Editor’s Note: Mark Alvarez, a Salt Lake City attorney with extensive experience in immigration law, and his wife, Lorena, have returned from Mexico after nearly two years. The column lays out a sobering and troubling assessment of the state’s immigration law and the compelling reasons for why Gov. Jon Huntsman and the Legislature should go well beyond the political realm in considering meaningful, lawful, and pragmatic immigration reform.

One hundred ten thousand undocumented immigrants live in Utah according to a recent Pew Hispanic Center report. While undocumented workers plainly primed the economic motor for a decade, they and their families became a political target.

Last year, Governor Huntsman and the state legislature took aim. Starting on July 1, 2009, Utah will spend countless hours and at least half a million dollars per year on immigration law enforcement.

While life will be more difficult for many undocumented immigrants, their families and friends, the new law will do little if anything to change a broken immigration system. Let’s consider some provisions.

“Citizenship determination of incarcerated persons” requires county sheriffs to verify the immigration status of those “confined to the county jail for a period of time.” The governor and the legislature could have spent their time on other matters: for years, immigration authorities have rapidly placed detention holds on undocumented aliens who go to jail. Five years ago, this immigration check often was done in a day or two, certainly less than the “period of time” codified into law.

The law establishes a rebuttable presumption for bond determinations that undocumented immigrants present a risk of flight. Judges undoubtedly will appreciate this legislative and executive wisdom.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission is prohibited from granting a liquor license to an undocumented immigrant. Laws already prohibit undocumented immigrants from working or doing business in the U.S. and Utah. The governor and legislature simply added one more.

Under “Identity Documents and Verification,” public entities can create identity documents only for citizens, nationals and legal permanent residents. With some exceptions, public entities will have to start or ramp up verification. A fiscal note estimated the cost through 2011 would exceed 1.1 million dollars. Given that the Driver License is the principal form of identification in Utah and that Utah law has already established a separate Driving Privilege Card for undocumented immigrants, this money seems ill spent.

A provision directs government officials to check the immigration status of those getting public benefits in Utah. The provision lists so many exceptions that it is difficult to imagine what benefits might be affected. Moreover, federal preemption of state law might eliminate even those from consideration.

The law requires government agencies to notify the federal prosecutor in Utah when a false claim of citizenship is made. This is a federal crime rarely prosecuted, as immigration violations are handled more rapidly, efficiently and inexpensively through immigration court proceedings. Handling these cases as criminal ones in the way the law implies would waste time and money.

Another clause directs the Utah attorney general to establish a Fraudulent Documents Identification Unit. The purpose is reduction of the sale and distribution of fraudulent documents used for identification with special emphasis on those used by undocumented immigrants. The legislature funded this law earlier this year. This part of the law makes sense although the Utah attorney general clearly began work on this issue long ago.

A controversial part of the law concerns an agreement between Utah law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities to share joint responsibility for enforcement of federal immigration laws. Federal law has provided for this since 1997.

The law made by the governor and legislature appeared to suggest that state and local law enforcement should enter into such agreements; nevertheless, major Utah law enforcement agencies, including the Utah Highway Patrol and the Salt Lake City Police Department, have declined. Over mumbles and grumbles from state legislators, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff stated that the decision belongs to law enforcement officials.

Governor Huntsman and the legislature enacted a provision that makes it “unlawful to discharge a lawful employee while retaining an unauthorized alien in the same job category.” This duplicates federal law as a child pencils a figure on tracing paper. No offense to children intended.

The employment verification part of the law makes sense. Contractors, subcontractors and others who work on public projects should verify the immigration status of new employees. Indeed, all employers should. Employment verification must be part of immigration reform; however, the reform should be handled at the federal level, and flaws in current verification systems must be fixed before participation is made mandatory.

Immigration reform principles remain plain. The U.S. immigration system should adapt to changing economic realities. Worker visa numbers should rise and fall according to the needs of the U.S. economy. Immigration processes should be efficient and orderly. Borders and various points of entry should be secure to prevent harmful activity but smart to allow helpful activity, including the flow of people, commerce and capital.

Finally, immigration reform must include measures to deal with 110 thousand undocumented immigrants living in Utah and approximately 12 million throughout the U.S. They are not going anywhere, and they certainly do not deserve the political slaps currently being meted out by the Utah legislature and governor.