As Utah lawmakers debate Rep. Trevor Lee’s HB88, which would deny certain services to undocumented immigrants, I keep thinking about the people who first came to this valley. The Latter-day Saint pioneers were, in every real sense, immigrants. They fled judgment, violence and government cruelty, hoping to find a place where they could live without fear.
Are we now so entitled — or so forgetful — that we cannot recognize those same struggles in the people arriving today?
Our pioneer ancestors knew what it meant to be driven from their homes and treated as unwanted. They knew what it meant to start over with nothing and pray that somewhere, someone would allow them to stay. I wonder what they would say about policies designed to make life so miserable for others that they “self‑deport.”
Utah was built by people seeking refuge from persecution. If HB88 reflects who we are becoming, then we must ask whether we have lost sight of the values they sacrificed so much to preserve.
Amie Hancey
Centerville