The Utah Legislature is expected to debate a handful of bills relating to U.S. immigrants’ legal status and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at its upcoming legislative session.
Democratic Sen. Nate Blouin has introduced legislation nicknamed the “ICE Out” bill.
Senate Bill 136 would prohibit ICE agents from entering certain areas including churches, hospitals, libraries and courthouses and also require them to remove their masks.
Fox13 reports the law would also prohibit federal law enforcement from entering non-public government-operated health care centers and shelters.
On the Republican side, Utah Rep. Trevor Lee is sponsoring a couple bills aimed at restricting people without legal status from accessing public assistance programs and other resources.
The Utah News Dispatch reports one of those bills, House Bill 88, would likely restrict undocumented people from accessing the state’s Women, Infants and Children Program and restrict free vaccines, communicable disease treatments and a variety of other assistance programs that do not currently require proof of U.S. citizenship.
As of Wednesday, Jan. 14, HB 88 was the only one of those bills to be publicly filed and published. Lee said he’s still working on the others.
