SALT LAKE CITY — A small group of Latino Utah residents wants the president of Mexico to suspend the visas of Mormon missionaries until the LDS Church takes a stronger stand on the immigration issue. Raúl López-Vargas says he has collected about 100 signatures on a petition that he plans to deliver to the Mexican Consulate of Salt Lake City on Monday. He is calling for Mexican President Felipe Calderón to sit down with the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ask them to take a concrete position on immigration.

SALT LAKE CITY — The immigration controversy has reached the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with one Latino member of the Utah community\'s request that Mexico suspend all LDS missionary visas to the nation.

A former vice president of a local community group has penned a letter to Mexican President Felipe Calderón seeking the temporary suspension of visas issued to Mormon missionaries in response to his view the LDS Church hasn’t stood tough against Utah-based immigration reform bills.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Compact, which has been called a sensible approach to immigration reform, is catching on in other states. Already, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska and Maine have crafted legislation similar to the Utah Compact. This week, Indiana legislators unveiled a compact of their own.

The enforcement-only immigration bill cleared its first major hurdle Friday when it was passed out of a House committee — giving its chief sponsor a victory and moving it out for debate on the House floor. Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, made the case for his bill inside a packed hearing room lined with extra security and harsh admonishments by Committee Chairman Curtis Oda, who threatened to arrest anyone who was disorderly or engaged in outbursts.

SALT LAKE CITY — A proposed enforcement-only illegal immigration law that some say could define Utah\'s image for years to come cleared its first hurdle Friday. After more than three hours of dueling statistics, emotional anecdotes and points of law, the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee voted 9-3 to advance HB70 to the House. Seven of the 12 members are co-sponsors of the bill. Democrats cast the dissenting votes.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A House committee approved Rep. Stephen Sandstrom\'s enforcement-only illegal immigration bill Friday. \"We need a deterrent in the state of Utah,\" Sandstrom, R-Orem, told the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Standing Committee. \"We have no deterrent right now.\" After more than three hours of testimony, the committee voted 9-3 to move the HB70 to the House. Democrats cast the dissenting votes.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A controversial Utah immigration bill is now one step closer to becoming law. Late Friday afternoon, a house committee overwhelmingly approved Representative Stephen Sandstrom\'s tough immigration bill. Sandstrom began by telling the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee,

SALT LAKE CITY — A House committee approved Rep. Steve Sandstrom\'s controversial Arizona-style immigration bill. The committee voted 9-3 to advance the bill to the full House for debate. The vote was straight across party lines. The majority Republicans have made it clear in recent days that they consider this bill their proposal in the current debate over immigration.

AMIGOS: DAR UN CLICK DONDE DICE LIVE AUDIO PARA ESCUCHAR TODO EL DEBATE. GRACIAS. TONY

Six years ago, Utah created a driving privilege card for illegal aliens. The reason was to promote highway safety and to try to ensure that all drivers carry insurance. The Legislature wanted to do the utmost to make certain that everyone driving on the state’s roads, including illegal aliens, has had driver safety training and passed standard driving exams in English.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, unveiled the latest version of his immigration enforcement bill, House Bill 70, on Thursday. The bill in its original form would have required law enforcement officials to verify the legal immigration status of every person they pulled over and suspected might be in violation of the immigration law. The bill now states an officer may check the legal status on class B and class C misdemeanor suspects, but still requires the officer to check the status of all class A misdemeanor and felony suspects.

SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Stephen Sandstrom (R-Orem) is making changes to his controversial immigration bill. Sandstrom plans to reduce costs of his bill by giving officers discretion when investigating possible illegal immigrants. The language in the original bill said \"mandatory arrest and investigation of perceived illegal immigrants,\" but the new bill gives officers more options when it comes to lesser crimes.

The change came about after local governments balked at the fiscal note on HB70, which estimated the cost of enforcing it at between $5.3 million and $11.3 million. The Orem Republican said by giving police the choice of running legal status checks on those pulled over for Class B or C misdemeanors, it will “significantly lower” the fiscal note. He also plans to introduce legislation that would add revenue streams to the bill by attaching a fee to wire money transfers between Utah and foreign countries as well as raising the fee on getting a driving privilege card.

SALT LAKE CITY — Regardless of the latest changes to an enforcement-only illegal immigration bill, the head of the state\'s police chiefs says Utahns will be disappointed because their perceptions won\'t match reality should it become law. Illegal immigrants taken to jail for misdemeanor crimes won\'t be deported, said Layton Police Chief Terry Keefe.

SALT LAKE CITY — A spokesman for an Arizona business group opposed to enforcement-only immigration laws said Thursday that they are costing his state hundreds of millions of dollars. Arizona is set to lose $490 million in tourism revenue this year, including $141 million in lost spending due to conferences canceled in protest of the measures, Todd Landfried said at a Hinckley Institute of Politics forum discussion at the University of Utah.