Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department announced on Tuesday that it would join 13 other Latin American nations in signing an amicus brief supporting the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against Utah’s restrictive immigration law, HB 497. Utah’s law “dangerously contributes to a patchwork of laws that impede effective and consistent diplomatic relations,” according the brief filed on behalf of the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
Following the lead of Arizona, Georgia and Alabama, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 497 (titled “Utah Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act”) into law in March and it went into effect in May 2011.
While some Utah lawmakers have marketed as more human than other copy-cat laws, many of HB 497’s provisions are just as harsh as those of its predecessors. For example, the law requires police to verify the immigration status of people arrested class B or C misdemeanors (including minor offenses like littering, jaywalking and traffic violations); prohibits any policy limiting state and local agencies from assisting the federal government in the enforcement of federal immigration law; and makes it a third degree felony to encourage or induce any immigrant to come, enter, or reside in a the state illegally.
The DOJ filed suit on the grounds that HB 497 is unconstitutional and incites racial profile U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups will hold a hearing on February 17 on a possible permanent injunction against the laws. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff responded on Tuesday by saying “Obviously, those who filed these briefs haven’t read our law or understand how different our law is,” but also said that some provisions might be amended to avoid the DOJ lawsuit.
Richard Andre is a policy associate for Americas Society/Council of the Americas.
