Utah gov. Gary Herbert signs "guest" worker, other immigration bills

Utah governor Gary Herbert has signed (link) a bill that would create a state-level guest worker program with a Mexican state (see that link for the details). The bill would also reward illegal immigration, encourage more illegal immigration, lower wages for American workers, and even their legislature admits it's unconstitutional.

Regarding the last:

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said he has been in discussions with the Obama administration regarding the state's desire to work cooperatively with the federal government to obtain the necessary waivers, exemptions or authorizations to implement the Utah laws, which will not go into effect until July 2013.

The eyes of the nation are on the "reddest of the red states" for its take on reforming immigration laws, Shurtleff said. "They are looking at Utah as a model to do that," he said.

On the perhaps bright side (with a perhaps greater chance of being enacted too), other bills Herbert signed dealt with enforcement and employment verification. However, signing the guest workers bill is at least a symbolic loss, and it's one that probably could have been prevented if opponents had used something like the question authority plan. One tea parties group had, to their credit, opposed the guest workers plan, although they weren't present at the signing ceremony.

There's also this:

Asked what was the LDS Church's public position was on the immigration bills, [Presiding Bishop H. David Burton of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] said the church had endorsed the Utah Compact. "We feel that the Legislature has done an incredible job in a very complex issue," Burton said.

See the last link for the huge downsides of the Compact.