The volatile battles over abortion and gay marriage are fought along strict political lines. For many people, the issues are black and white, cut and dried.

This is not so with illegal immigration. In this battle there are no strict party lines to follow. In fact, there are no racial or economic lines to follow either. In this battle there are almost as many sides as there are people.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the nation's borders and border security have been scrutinized much more than they were before the terrorism attack. There are a number of issues under debate regarding undocumented immigrants and unauthorized immigration in government circles and throughout the nation. There are millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States, and the nation is now deciding what to do about it.

The debate is complicated, however, because the issues at hand range from terrorist worries to health care for children of immigrants. Democrats and Republicans are siding against other Democrats and Republicans on many of the issues, while some Hispanic Americans want to make immigration easier and others want to deport unauthorized immigrants.

Alex Segura is a U.S.-born Hispanic American and has one of the loudest voices in Utah on the subject. He recently ran for office in West Valley City on the Republican ticket but lost, he said, because of his ideas on immigration reform. Segura is a member of the Utah Minuteman Project that is devoted to strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border and decreasing the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States.

Segura said there are three problems he sees in Utah that make it easy for undocumented immigrants to operate in the state and decrease the quality of life for legal citizens. Those problems are a proposed driver privilege card, in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and Salt Lake City's sanctuary policy. Segura said the sanctuary policy ? as mandated by the mayor, city attorney and city manager ? involves prohibitions on police inquiring about citizenship status during routine traffic stops.

BYU communications law professor Edward Carter is also a Republican but said he takes a more humanistic stance on the subject than Segura.

"To me it does make sense that we have police focus on violent crimes and not on citizenship status," he said.

Carter said a driver privilege card would not give immigrants citizenship status, but would be beneficial to at least document unauthorized immigrants in some way and force them to get car insurance.

"These are people," Carter said, regarding in-state tuition for unauthorized immigrants. "I'm not condoning crossing the border illegally ... At the same time, I don't think we should be punishing these people."

This argument in Utah is similar to the debate going on around the nation. Mark Alvarez, administrator for Minority Affairs in Salt Lake City, said the problem is federal and not one the state can do much about. Therefore, the problem can only be solved through federal channels.

Alvarez agrees with Segura that U.S. immigration laws have not been widely enforced. Alvarez's solution to the immigration problem is the creation of a smart border.

A smart border would be one where more immigrants are allowed to come through legally, but documentation and criminal checks would be required. The process would allow legal immigrants to come through more quickly, and more of the immigrants would be documented.

"Smart borders allow and provide for realistic and authorized routes for people who are going to do good for our country," Alvarez said. "With any comprehensive reform, we are going to make sure that any people who get status here are going to have to pass a criminal check."

Alvarez's philosophy comes from an adage he heard in Spain.

"'Those who put the oar to the water are welcome,'" he quoted. "That's a good principle for us to put to use here. Those people who are 'putting the oar' to the water should be given opportunity to have status here."

Peter Brimelow, author of the controversial book "Alien Nation," takes a strong stance against illegal immigration. An immigrant from Scotland, Brimelow came to the United States legally in 1970 as a student and said he has no tolerance for illegal aliens.

"You stay here long enough and you'll be allowed to stay here," Brimelow said. "It's frustrating to legal immigrants because it's extremely hard to come in legally. Defy the law and get here and you're fine."

Brimelow said it would not be hard to deport illegal immigrants and keep them from coming to the United States. He suggested the government should charge large fines and taxes to those who employ illegal immigrants. He also said former President Eisenhower deported over 4 million illegal immigrants and today's government should follow his example.

Even many who oppose hard-line ideas like Brimelow's agree that some reform needs to occur. Archie Archuleta, a member and former leader of the Hispanic Democratic Caucus and also a member of the Utah Coalition of La Raza, has been at the forefront of the debate to fight for immigrant rights.

"Every country has the right to say who should come into their borders," Archuleta said. "There's no question that we have to do something about it."

However, Archuleta is worried about the growing tension in Utah and the nation and the future for undocumented immigrants who have been here for long periods of time.

"There's a fringe [in Utah], a very vociferous fringe, that is anti-immigrant," Archuleta said.

Archuleta said because the nation's immigration policy was not enforced the way it should have been, there are now more than 12 million immigrants who work, pay taxes, attend church and have established families in the United States.

"We're really talking about large, large numbers of people," Archuleta said. "We could cause so much chaos and so much heartbreak and so much suffering because they've been here so long. The country has to take that into account because they [the unauthorized immigrants] have families and roots here."

Michael Clara, a member of the Executive Committee of the Utah Hispanic Republican Assembly, also said he supports immigration reform and immigrant rights.

"There's nothing in the constitution that would compel me to spit in the face of people that want to be here and want to be citizens of the United States," Clara said.

Archuleta, like many people involved in the argument, recognizes the complexity of the issue and the negative effects this debate could have on the nation.

"Utah, like the country, is dependent upon the federal government to make some sane, just and effective immigration law," Archuleta said. "However, each state has its own problems in regards to both undocumented immigrants and those who are opposed to immigrants as well. ... This could become a very ugly chapter in our collective lives."

Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Jun 2006