President Barack Obama took time away from dealing with the Iraq war, the economy, and oil spill to address immigration reform Friday. Mr. Obama spoke to American University\'s School of International Service in Washington D.C.

Utah Latino leader Tony Yapias has repeatedly called on the LDS Church to take a stand, in the vexing debate over illegal immigration. Wednesday, he told 2News the issue is as important to the church as blacks in the LDS priesthood was, in the late 70s. \"Each day the church is quiet on this issue, the perception is getting bigger\" among Latinos, said Yapias, who is Mormon. \"The perception is the church is anti-immigrant.\"

On the same day his E-Verify bill became law, Utah State Senator Chris Buttars came out against Arizona\'s controversial new anti-illegal immigration statute

SALT LAKE CITY -- President Barack Obama\'s Thursday speech on immigration reform sparked a strong reaction in Utah, but it didn\'t change the minds of those who want the state to further crack down on illegal immigrants. Obama said he\'s serious about comprehensive immigration reform and laws that require accountability from government, business and illegal immigrants themselves. But he knows he can\'t pass it alone.

President Obama piled new pressure on Republicans on Thursday to support moves to fix an immigration system he said has become \"broken and dangerous,\" but key GOP senators showed little sign of being ready to cooperate.

This is a highly relevant debate for Catholics and evangelical Protestant groups with growing Latino memberships. But beyond that, a range of Christian leaders involved in the interfaith call for immigration reform cite biblical motives -- \"What Would Jesus Do\" kinds of things, like loving your neighbor and helping the less fortunate

\"WHAT do you mean I\'m out of money?\" says the bumper sticker. \"I still have checks left!\" In the immigration debate, some folks use the same logic to raise the issue of border security. \"What do you mean the border is secure?\" they seem to say. \"We still have illegal immigrants in the United States.\"

SALT LAKE (ABC 4 News) - Utah\'s Attorney General is now urging the LDS Church to come out in opposition to Arizona\'s controversial new immigration law. And Mark Shurtleff also tells ABC 4 News that, unless the LDS Church does so, a similar law is likely to pass here. Shurtleff is LDS but he makes clear he isn\'t speaking for the Church.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom says he is more convinced than ever Utah needs Arizona-style immigration reform or it will face a wave of undocumented immigrants fleeing Arizona’s tougher enforcement. Sandstrom — who returned early Tuesday from a visit to the Arizona-Mexico border with Utah House Speaker David Clark and Rep. Paul Ray — said if Utah doesn’t act it could become a destination for human traffickers and drug runners.

A small group of state lawmakers is on a field trip to learn more about Arizona\'s controversial immigration law. Some legislators are interested in sponsoring similar legislation in Utah, which gives us pause on many levels. But credit the group for going to the border and learning more about the issue and its real world impacts. Utah needs to conduct an informed debate on this issue.

State legislators from around the nation — including Utah Sen. Luz Robles — have formed a group seeking to stop the spread of the new Arizona immigration law by offering alternatives that they say would reward and integrate newcomers who play by the rules.

One of the more respected, balanced and well-written publications today in America on current affairs is the weekly magazine, The Economist. An article in the April 22 issue takes a plunge into the roiling anger and confusion, and racism, too, in Arizona over that state\'s new immigration law, SB. 1070. The Economist dubbed the law\'s result \"hysterical nativism\" and followed up warning that Arizona was \"at risk of becoming a police state.\" The bill was sponsored by Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce.

With polls showing he\'s on the losing end of the public opinion tide in favor of Arizona\'s new illegal immigrant law, President Obama has decided to construct a wordy barrier of speeches along the insecure border issue with Mexico. The latest speech comes Thursday morning, when the Democrat goes to American University in Washington to repeat his view that securing and sealing the nation\'s southern frontier against the flow of illegal immigrants, drugs, traffickers, criminals and terrorists is only a part of the solution to what he describes as \"our broken immigration system.\"

It\'s Saturday, and Luis Sanchez is raking dead leaves from under a bush, sweat pooling under his eyes in the humid Pennsylvania air. There is a silver Mercedes Benz in the driveway. The lady of the large two-story house is sitting on the back porch, reading a magazine. It has been less than 15 hours since Luis arrived in Pennsylvania from Arizona, where he worked in landscaping, too. He is working on just a few hours sleep after driving day and night for three days straight across the country with his wife, Marlen, and their three U.S.-citizen children.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal from business and civil rights groups trying to overturn a 2007 Arizona law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. The state law was intended to lessen the economic incentive for immigrants to sneak into the U.S. by holding employers accountable for hiring them.

President Obama is reviving the thorny issue of immigration this week. He sent administration officials to Arizona on Monday to advertise his efforts on border security, while he is encouraging supporters of an immigration overhaul to focus their ire on Republicans as the cause for the legislation’s stall in Congress.