On February 16, 2013, The State Central Committee of the Utah Republican Party adopted an immigration resolution focused on Hispanic “immigrants.” The resolution does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.
Party Chair Thomas Wright allotted only minimal time for discussion which resulted in a quick vote, without full vetting of the resolution’s language.
During his presentation of the resolution, Marco Diaz, told Committee members that Arturo Morales supported it.
Morales had worked with Diaz to improve Diaz’s original wording; however, Diaz did not include all of Morales’ changes. Morales, therefore, made a motion to amend the resolution by deleting the specific references to Hispanics. His motion was further amended to add “legal” before the occurrences of the word “immigrant.” Diaz opposed the proposed changes.
After a short discussion, the motion to amend was rejected by a substantial margin and the resolution was passed as originally drafted.
The resolution puts the State Central Committee on record as stating that “we the Utah Republican Party….recognize that Hispanic values align well with Republican values” in spite of the fact that 69% of Hispanics support Obamacare, that the average Hispanic vote for Democrat presidential candidates since 1980 has been 64%, that according to activist Tony Yapias, 80% of Hispanics in Utah vote for Democrats, that more than 50% of Hispanic children are born out of wedlock, and that 75% of illegal aliens commit major job-related felonies.
The resolution further puts the Central Committee on record as calling for compassion for illegal aliens, many of whom commit job-related, identity theft that impacts between 50,000 and 80,000 innocent Utah children. However, the resolution does not call for compassion for these innocent victims and their families.
Finally, the vote puts the State Central Committee on record as specifically supporting Hispanics while ignoring other groups. Concern was expressed that this is a racist position since it singles out one group above all other immigrants for purely political reasons.
In an e-mail following the vote, Morales wrote:
The fact of the matter is that alienating strong conservatives, lack of consistent GOP messaging, lack of an educational campaign about GOP values, lack of outreach programs to independents and also to Democrats who may sympathize with GOP values, is hurting the GOP more than the Hispanic vote.
Nationally, about 45% of potential voters are unregistered and not participating in Presidential elections….This is where the GOP should start mining these potential voters rather than wasting its time on a Hispanic vote they are NOT going to get.
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Key phrases from the resolution:
…we the Utah Republican Party request that the Congress of the United States of America find reasonable and responsible solutions to these issues of legal and illegal immigration—that it address them in a compassionate, conservative manner.
…we the Utah Republican Party recognize that Hispanics are hard working, religious, family oriented people. We also believe that Hispanic values align with Republican values….
…we the Republican Party reiterate the message of inclusion and that there is a place for Hispanics and all other immigrants within our party. We also reiterate that as a Party we will continue to reach out to Hispanics and all other immigrants…
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