Here's a sensitive topic for Utah, illegal Hispanic immigration and the reasons why Utahans are ambivalent to it. I think the following excerpt from Deseret News gives keen insight. "A University of Utah ethnics studies professor, Solorzano has deep-seated pain over Brigham Young's declaration — "This is the right place" — as Mormon pioneers arrived in what became the Salt Lake Valley nearly 160 years ago. I can't call them illegal immigrants because the term didn't exist then," he said. "But they were certainly trespassing on Mexican territory."One correction to the Deseret News article. All of Utah, Nevada and California were forfeited to the United States (see map above of states in red). Parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were purchased in 1853, the Gadsten purchase (parts in orange). Despite our history of illegal immigration to Mexico and Canada, let’s not forget the economics of Utah. Our farms, ranches and small manufacturing, which is a large part of Utah’s economy, need cheap labor to stay competitive. Local residents shy away from strenuous, low-paying positions, particularly when they are located in wide-open rural settings.
Only when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War in 1848 awarding present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas and parts of Colorado, Nevada and Utah to the United States did Mormon pioneers gain legal status.
"Somewhere in the back of Mexican people's minds, they fantasize about the idea that the LDS Church will apologize for taking the territory," he said. Elder Pingree of the Seventies replied, "That's an issue that none of us is going to solve right now, so, let's get on with the future."
Photo source: Wikipedia
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If the illegal immigrants weren't here, the jobs would be taken by natives, though perhaps at higher wages. IAs are pretty expensive in the whole, though business owners love having them around so they can pay artificially low wages.
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