By Octavio Abea
Lawmakers cannot find common ground on one of the bills that passed in Utah on Friday, which allows illegal immigrants to live and work in the U.S. by obtaining a permit.
The HB497 is a bill that gives officers permission to ask individuals for proof of their legal status, but only if they have committed a traffic violatin or a B or C class misdemeanor, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
The HB116, which allows illegal immigrants to live and work in the U.S. with their families, was coupled with the HB497 in an attempt to revise the bill and separate the similarities with Arizona's SB1070, The New York Times reports.
Utah is trying to soften the blow by grouping these bills together and show that there are different models that can be created in order to deal with illegal immigration, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
"People think we'll be seen as compassionate," Republican Representative Chris Herrod, an opposer of the bill, said, "people will actually see us as weak," The New York Times reports.
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