AUSTIN, Texas — As a Republican, Rep. Aaron Pena is expected to take a hard line on immigration. But as a Latino who represents a heavily Hispanic district along the U.S.-Mexico border, the South Texas lawyer finds some of the anti-immigrant proposals in the Legislature to be unfair and unnecessarily harsh.

Don\'t tell Harry Reid, but a new study released Tuesday finds that the percentage of illegal immigrants among Nevada\'s population is the highest of any state in the union. So, too, is the percentage of illegals in the state\'s work force.

It seems Iowa is doing a much better job than Nebraska in getting tough with businesses that hire illegal immigrants and classify them as independent contractors.

Several Utah legislators have bills ready for the legislative session. I attended the November meeting at Dixie State College\'s Gardner Center that was billed as \"A Legislative Forum on Illegal Immigration.\" I was interested in learning more about the Utah Compact and Utah Sen. Dennis Stowell\'s Arizona-style bill. Although I was offended by the anti-Pelosi jokes in what should have been a bipartisan gathering to discuss issues and not cast stones at either side, I stuck it out. A \"forum,\" after all, is a venue for public discussion, and all people should feel welcome.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah congressman says giving the U.S. Border Patrol greater freedom to crack down on illegal immigrants on federal land would be a step toward greater border security.

For the first time in three years, the number of undocumented immigrants in Utah declined slightly from its peak in 2007, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center. Utah was one of a handful of states that showed a dip, both individually as well as when its sample size was lumped in with Nevada and Arizona. Both of those states also reflected declines in their illegal immigration numbers.

An Arizona state lawmaker\'s push to end the guarantee of birthright citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants on Saturday set off a protest hundreds of miles away in Pacoima, a Los Angeles suburb. More than 1,500 people in this predominantly Latino community took part in the protest, many of them chanting \"Si, se puede,\" the Spanish version of President Obama\'s 2008 campaign slogan.

WASHINGTON — Battling the widespread perception that U.S. border cities have become increasingly more dangerous, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Monday called on public officials to stop exaggerating the violence on the U.S. side of the Mexico border and \"be honest with the people we serve.\" In a speech in El Paso, Texas, Napolitano cited FBI crime statistics that show violent-crime rates in Southwest border counties are down 30 percent over the past two decades and now are \"among the lowest in the nation.\"

Sharpening a confrontation with Republicans over Southwest border enforcement, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Monday that crime and illegal crossings had dropped sharply along the border, and she accused lawmakers who say violence is out of control there of trying to “score political points.”

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- U.S. immigration law is not being enforced consistently, and among several jurisdictions studied, Los Angeles County is unique. A new non-partisan report finds that in parts of the U.S., especially the southeast, illegal immigrants who commit even minor offenses are more likely to be turned over to the feds for deportation.

A legislative panel voted Friday to wipe out Utah’s Office of Ethnic Affairs, as well as to cut funding for cancer research, stop printing tax booklets and eliminate the state’s property-rights ombudsman. The vote came as the Business, Economic Development and Labor Appropriations subcommittee made preliminary recommendations to shave $16 million from programs, part of an effort by the Legislature to cut more than a half-billion dollars from the state’s budget.

David Morales, a West Valley City teen, was 45 minutes away from college when the Greyhound bus he was riding, and his dreams for the future, both came to a sudden halt. Morales graduated from Granite Peaks High in South Salt Lake last spring with high grades and hopes. He wanted to become a Christian pastor and start Utah’s “biggest church.” He enrolled in a divinity school in Louisiana and packed his bags.

I am blessed to have been raised the daughter of a Navy chief. I grew up knowing the world and the necessity of diversity in our global community and economy. I have learned many life lessons in my short 24 years on this beautiful planet, and the majority have been through multicultural interactions.

Topeka — During the prelude to the Civil War, Kansans fought on the side of what was right, seeking to keep the scourge of slavery out of the state and help the enslaved. Wait a minute, historians say.

SALT LAKE CITY – House Republicans pushed their leaders Thursday to ensure a controversial immigration enforcement bill will come to a vote rather than be lumped into omnibus legislation. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, later told the Deseret News he is already looking at coming up with a separate immigration bill that would make it easier for foreign workers to get agricultural visas.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom said he has about 18 lawmakers lined up to co-sponsor his enforcement-only immigration bill and former House Speaker David Clark, R-Santa Clara, urged the Republican Caucus on Thursday to allow it to go to the floor for a full debate. “I haven’t seen many legislators up here take as much time, effort and occasionally — abuse — on a singular issue as Representative Sandstrom,” Clark said. “He’s earned that particular right.”