SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The LDS Church is making what may be its strongest statement yet on immigration. The Church is joining Utah political and business leaders who, Thursday, signed a compact calling for more moderation and compassion on the issue. Attending the compact signing was Utah\'s attorney general, a former U.S. senator, a former congressman and former Governor Olene Walker.

SALT LAKE CITY — A document being called the \"Utah Compact\" could change the tone of the immigration debate in the state. It\'s got the backing of some of the biggest names in Utah politics. The compact is a challenge to Rep. Stephen Sandstrom\'s Arizona-style immigration bill that\'s going to be debated at the Utah State Legislature. The Utah Compact urges a more compassionate form of immigration reform.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement of support today following the announcement of the Utah Compact, a document backed by a broad spectrum of community leaders:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to push for a vote during the lame-duck session on a bill that would legalize young, undocumented immigrants if they attend college or serve in the military, according to Democratic sources familiar with a leadership conference call Wednesday. A vote on the bill, known as the DREAM Act, could come as early as next week, the sources said. Pelosi asked Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) to assess the mood of the caucus, according to one source.

\"Several months after the law was applied, it\'s possible to observe a lower number of Hispanics in that area of America. We estimate there are 100,000 less Hispanics compared to the start of 2010,\" said the report by the private BBVA Bancomer foundation, released at the two-day Global Forum on Migration and Development, in the Pacific resort of Puerto Vallarta.

Despite the Republican sweep, Latino advocacy groups are trying to spin this election as an object demonstration of Hispanic strength. How? High Latino turnout, they maintain, effectively created a firewall in the Southwest ensuring Republican losses in Nevada, California and Colorado and preventing them from gaining majority control of the Senate. But this line of reasoning confuses the sauce for the whole enchilada.

An immigration reduction advocacy leader is pleased that Republican Lou Barletta is headed to Washington to represent Pennsylvania\'s 11th congressional district. For the former mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, the third time was a charm as he defeated longtime incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D) by a 55-45 percent margin after having failed to unseat the Democrat in 2002 and 2008.

Tony Yapias, the Hispanic community\'s highest profile activist, has lost his twice-weekly program on Radio Exitos following the introduction of an all-Mexican music format. The last show of \'Pulso Latino\', which provided Yapias with a powerful platform for his often controversial opinions, aired last Thursday. Yapias said he found out the day before the elections that his show was being taken off the air.

SALT LAKE CITY — Deborah Zalazar de Correa and her two teenage children, Kevin and Magali, sit quietly at a gate in concourse B at the Salt Lake International Airport. Their expressions move from sad to thoughtful and back again as they trade pensive looks, oblivious to the bustle of the busy terminal. A few seats away, two men in suits sit with stacks of papers, monitoring and isolating the small family.

BOSTON - Dear Rep. John Boehner: Please accept congratulations from an immigrant on your victory this week. I think I speak on behalf of all immigrants when I say I was moved by your tears Tuesday night as you realized that a barkeeper\'s son will likely become speaker of the House. It was a great American moment – the sort that brought so many of us here, too, through the force of our own efforts, to try to better ourselves, our families and, we hope, our country – this country, the United States of America

Foreign workers in the United States on temporary work visas have been targets of fraud and abuse, a federal report concluded this week. The study by the Government Accountability Office mirrors many of the findings of a five-part Kansas City Star investigation of human trafficking published last year.

It\'s been a reality in Santa Cruz for a long time, and now California has tilted to being a one-party state. Democrats have held a massive edge in party registration for decades in our diverse state, but Republicans have always been able to win a few statewide offices, to offset their minority status in the Legislature. But no longer. On an election night where the Republican Party was ascendent around the country, party candidates lost resoundingly Tuesday night in California.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has unofficially confirmed that 500 to 700 I-9 Notices of Inspection (NOIs) will be issued to businesses throughout the U.S. over the coming months. The agency began issuing the NOIs on September 15, 2010. The notices alert business owners that ICE will be inspecting the hiring records of these employers to determine whether or not they are complying with employment eligibility verification laws and regulations

Today, Latino voters in multiple states will help decide the outcome of a number of close races. And tonight, in a poll sponsored by SEIU, NCLR and America\'s Voice, Latino Decisions will release election eve polling in eight states that shows immigration and anti-immigrant campaigning played a major role in mobilizing Latino voters this cycle.

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican challenger Ken Buck were locked in the country\'s closest U.S. Senate race as the vote tally headed into the homestretch this morning. The race, which most polls predicted would be tight, lived up to expectations. As of 12:30 a.m., the candidates stood only a few thousand votes apart, each with about 47 percent of the vote.

Reporting from San Francisco — A federal appeals court, reviewing Arizona\'s tough new immigration law while protestors outside shouted and waved signs, suggested during a hearing Monday that the state may be permitted to require police to investigate the immigration status of suspected criminals and yet be powerless to do anything about a person\'s illegal residency