OREM — The national attempt to influence the debate in Utah on illegal-immigration reform will continue next week when former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes and the national spokeswoman for the Minuteman political action committee speak in Provo six days before the Republican primary.
Keyes' topic will be "Solutions to America's border crisis." Minuteman spokeswoman Carmen Mercer will join him Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the ballroom of the Provo City Library at Academy Square.
Both are expected to discuss the race between Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and his challenger John Jacob in the race for the Republican nomination in Utah's 3rd Congressional District. The primary election is June 27.
A Keyes representative, however, said the former diplomat hasn't endorsed either candidate.
"Alan Keyes is coming to discuss the issues, discuss solutions and let the voters decide in a framework of education," said Stephen Stone, a Provo resident and president and editor of RenewAmerica.us. "Alan, to be frank, is not necessarily supporting either one of these candidates. This will be a voter-education kind of thing, nonpartisan and non-candidate oriented.
"We've done research on John Jacob and it's kind of hard to pin him down. Chris Cannon has done some things that would be a red flag or troublesome to conservatives."
At the same time Keyes and Mercer are speaking in Provo, a separate immigration town hall meeting will be under way at the Salt Lake County Complex.
Alex Segura, director of the Utah Minuteman Project, is organizing the meeting, which will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Segura said both events would likely "get people pumped up and excited in the 3rd District," and give Jacob a boost.
"It will be a bellwether for how the immigration debate is going to go," he said. "And it's a precursor for removing incumbents who support illegal immigration. . . . We're hoping Cannon will be the first to go. It will put others on notice."
Jacob is scheduled to speak at the Salt Lake meeting, along with other political candidates, Rick Oltman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, and Bliss Tew, John Birch Society coordinator.
"We want to put a forum out there so people can come speak to these candidates," Segura said.
Segura said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is another potential speaker. Tancredo founded the Team America PAC which has created and paid for radio ads opposing Cannon.
Keyes sought the Republican nomination for president in 1996 and 2000 and lost three Senate races in Maryland and Illinois.
Keyes has called for the formation of a National Border Guard augmented by a Citizens Auxiliary, organized, trained and equipped to act as spotters.
"He believes that if we don't have borders we maintain and protect, we don't have a country with any sovereignty," Stone said. "His position is, let's secure the borders and then debate the merits of what to do after that, not the comprehensive effort pushed by the president and Congress that is being rushed. Alan Keyes believes we should be more deliberate about such a critical issue."
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