SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) Thursday night more than 100 people showed up inside a gymnasium in downtown Salt Lake City to hear Police Chief Chris Burbank back up his own words when he recently said that his officers would not be enforcing Senate Bill 81. The law requires state and local agencies to confirm the legal residency of anyone seeking public benefits.
SB 81 was designed to crack down on illegal immigration in Utah. Even though it doesn't become law until July 1, in the Latino community some are afraid it will lead to racial profiling. Edgar Fernandez says he was thinking about leaving Utah because of SB 81 until he heard Burbank and Mayor Ralph Becker speak on the issue.
Burbank says, "How you can ask a cop to make enforcement decisions based on citizenship when all you have to go on is the color of their skin and the language they may speak. That reeks of racial profiling and bias in law enforcement, and we have no room for that in our profession.”
Mayor Becker echoed those words saying, Becker says,” I hope people would understand that we are not going to be going out and enforcing federal immigration laws and that is consistent with SB 81.”
That makes Veronica Sanchez happy. She says her family was considering leaving Utah. Sanchez says,” Now I feel better and I like what he said.”
Chief Burbank impressed the crowd by telling them he is also trying to teach all of his officers how to speak Spanish.
