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.

A Senate committee Wednesday recommended doing away with Utah’s “driving privilege” card for undocumented motorists — despite arguments that they will continue to drive but without auto insurance. The Senate Transportation, Public Utilities and Technology Committee voted 4-1 to send SB138 by Sen. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, to the full Senate. It would do away with those cards — held by more than 40,000 drivers — entirely by next Jan. 1.

SALT LAKE CITY — With Rep. Stephen Sandstrom\'s controversial illegal immigration bill scheduled for its first legislative hearing Wednesday, the Orem Republican is questioning the accuracy and motivation behind the cost estimate to enforce his proposed law. The Legislative Fiscal Analysts Office released figures this week showing it would cost local governments $5.3 million to $11.3 million annually to detain and verify the status of people suspected to be in the country illegally. The Utah League of Cities and Towns supplied legislative number crunchers data used to reach the estimates.

SALT LAKE CITY — In the face of proposed state budget cuts that would ax the State Office of Ethnic Affairs, Salt Lake County officials urged the Utah Legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert to honor their commitment and dedication to the needs of the state\'s ethnic community. A resolution endorsed by the County Council and backed by Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon Tuesday said, in part, that \"it is in the best interest of the state and Salt Lake County to address issues of concern that impact the ethnic community promoting inclusiveness and cultivating a high level of trust between state government and the ethnic community.\"

HB70 » The high-profile enforcement-only immigration bill carried by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom gets its first official trial when it comes up for debate Wednesday before a House Committee.

The Salt Lake County Council lined up Tuesday against eliminating the state Office of Ethnic Affairs and instructed its lobbyists to work to save the office this legislative session. Utah lawmakers are considering dropping the $725,000 expense from the governor’s budget, based on a suggestion by legislative fiscal analysts who were instructed to look for possible cuts in offices not mandated by statute.

Tennesseans have mixed opinions about immigration, with a majority saying foreigners have become a burden to the United States while also opposing a crackdown that would send illegal immigrants back to their home countries. About 70 percent of Tennesseans believe immigrants take jobs from American citizens and use up tax dollars, according to a statewide poll by Vanderbilt University.

WASHINGTON — Weeks after a hunger strike orchestrated by college students in San Antonio failed to sway her vote on the DREAM Act, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison told business leaders Tuesday that she now would work to pass a lesser version of the highly contentious bill, one that would not provide illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

SALT LAKE CITY — Republican senators worried about the number of immigration bills in the Utah Legislature are pushing for one comprehensive bill, even as a second bill granting amnesty to illegal immigrants has been unveiled. Rep. Bill Wright, R-Holden, told The Associated Press House that Bill 116 will allow illegal immigrants already in the state to register for a guest worker permit.

One is to impose a 1 percent or minimum $5 fee on all wire transfers of money from Utah to foreign countries, with proceeds going to local police agencies. The fee would be refunded on state income tax returns. Sandstrom reasoned that many illegal immigrants send money home but don\'t file tax returns. He said he also may propose a $20 fee on driving privilege cards.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s enforcement-only immigration reform bill could cost local governments in excess of $11 million, according to financial data released Monday by the Legislative Fiscal Analysts office. Sandstrom has been in discussions with various groups — including the Utah League of Cities and Towns — in an attempt to bring that number down and suggested during a meeting Monday that a way to offset those costs would be to impose a fee on wire transfers of money from Utah to other countries as well as adding a fee to the existing driving privilege card.

The cost of Rep. Stephen Sandstrom’s enforcement-only immigration reform bill to local governments could top $11 million, according to the financial analysis released Monday by the Legislative Fiscal Analysts office. Sandstrom has been working with various groups — including the League of Cities — in an attempt to bring that number down and the fiscal analysts provided a cost range for enacting the bill. That range is anywhere between $5.3 million and $11.3 million for detainment and verification of immigration status.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have rekindled their alliance on immigration reform, taking some early steps to test the political will for addressing the contentious issue this year. Their call list hasn’t focused so much on House and Senate members who’ve been reliable pro-immigration votes in the past. Instead, they’re looking to a strange-bedfellows mix of conservative and liberal constituencies that can provide a “safety net” of support, as Graham put it, once the issue heats up.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Going into this year\'s legislative session it was expected that immigration would be the main debate amongst lawmakers this year. It\'s two weeks into the 45-day session and, legislatively speaking, there has been little accomplished on the issue. But that doesn\'t mean Utah\'s lawmakers aren\'t meeting together and talking about it.

Did I ever tell you about the time that a police chief who organized an immigration sweep had his alibi unravel? It was 1997, and I was a reporter at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix. In the suburb of Chandler, hundreds of illegal immigrants and U.S.-born Hispanics were indiscriminately detained and interrogated as to their immigration status by teams of police officers and Border Patrol agents. It was a half-baked idea that wound up costing that city a bundle in civil rights lawsuits and damaged community relations.

GALVESTON — The crushing news came last month as Maria Sanchez was being prepared for surgery to remove a banana-size tumor along her spine that had crept between her vertebrae. Unable to use her right hand because of the growing tumor, Sanchez, 24, had been at the University of Texas Medical Branch\'s John Sealy Hospital for six days when, she said, a Spanish-speaking doctor told her she had to leave the hospital immediately because she was an illegal immigrant. The doctor said she should have surgery in Mexico, according to Sanchez.