Why Utah governor says ‘now’s the time’ for U.S. immigration reform

A bipartisan group of governors led by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared that now is the time to reform the U.S. immigration system after President Donald Trump put an end to most illegal border crossings.

Cox will lead a National Governors Association task force with Democratic Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to propose policy solutions for Congress to balance immigration enforcement with economic demands.

“For 40 years, we’ve been trying to do immigration reform and nobody’s ever been able to get it done,” Cox told Bloomberg news on Saturday. “But what’s different this time is that we have a secure border.”

For years, Republican lawmakers have said that they would not consider expanding America’s work visa programs, or simplifying pathways to citizenship, until illegal border crossings had come to a complete halt.

Since reaching record highs of 300,000 border encounters per month under President Joe Biden, encounters with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol have fallen to 10,000 per month.

Millions of immigrants were allowed to live in the country while their claims were processed under Biden. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security announced 15 months of zero releases at the border.

Economic common ground

With the border crisis under control, the National Governors Association is advocating for an immigration policy overhaul.

Sitting with Cox, outgoing NGA chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said proposals would likely put states front and center, asking congressional counterparts to give governors discretion to issue migrant work permits.

Incoming NGA chair Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also identified the economy as a point of common ground, saying that a deportation agenda focused on removing criminals should be paired with pro-growth policies.

Likewise, Meyer said the governors were aligned on “workforce imperatives.” The governors, representing some of the most Republican and Democratic states in the country, were also aligned in their criticisms.

All four signaled that they did not think the tactics being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are effective. But the Trump administration is responding to their unpopularity, according to Cox.

In Utah, state Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla joined three other progressive state lawmakers in pushing for legislation that would allow individuals to sue ICE agents for alleged constitutional violations.

Cox admitted there are broad differences between parties on questions of citizenship. The task force will be a test of whether there is “room for that type of a conversation in this hyper-partisan era,” he said.

“But there seems to be very broad agreement across the country: securing the border, getting the criminal element out of the country and fixing legal immigration,” he said. “Work permits, can we start there?”

Curtis proposes state visas

On Monday, Utah Sen. John Curtis announced the introduction of a bill that would create a voluntary state-sponsored visa program, letting legislatures expand their states’ temporary migrant workforce.

The legislation, which would mark a major reform to immigration law, mirrors a 15-year-old proposal passed as part of the 2011 Utah Compact on Immigration that never received federal approval.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle are renewing interest in resolving the perennial political issue.

Last week, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, reintroduced a bill that would allow immigrants to pay a fine to gain legal status and make it harder to deport parents of U.S.-born children.

Momentum has slowly coalesced around the Dignity Act, a bipartisan proposal that has been endorsed by a coalition of more than 100 important stakeholders, representing different industries and communities.

The bill would enhance border security technology, streamline asylum adjudication, mandate employment verification systems for new hires and increase criminal penalties for unlawful reentry into the U.S.

It would also codify a pathway to citizenship for immigrants brought here as children and allow immigrants to earn legal status by passing a background check and paying back taxes owed.

But with the Trump administration racing to break deportation records, compromise may be off the table.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin shared his dim view of immigration reform during a conversation with Stitt at the National Governors Association meeting on Saturday.

“Is immigration reform possible? No,” Mullin told the assembled governors. “Do you really need immigration reform? Yes, you do, but can we work with the system we have? Yes.”

Immigration has become too “political” of an issue to embark on large-scale reforms, he said. But he added it would benefit the country if seasonal employment visa programs were updated for modern agriculture.

This comment sparked outcry from some conservative commentators like Laura Loomer, Robby Starbuck and Steve Bannon. In response to the pushback, Mullin posted on X, “NO amnesty for illegal aliens. Ever.”