Gov. Cox announces policies to aid Trump’s deportation of migrants who commit crime

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced on Tuesday how Utah will assist President-elect Donald Trump in his plans to deport migrants who break the law after entering the country illegally.
Trump said he will implement the largest mass deportation program in U.S. history. During his reelection campaign, Trump alternated between promises to deport all migrants who have entered the country illegally — at least 11 million people — and promises to focus on those migrants with criminal behavior.
During an August campaign event at the southern border in Arizona, Trump said in response to a question from the Deseret News that his deportation agenda will depend on local law enforcement identifying and turning over migrants to the federal government who will then return them to their countries of origin.
Cox, a frequent critic of President Joe Biden’s handling of border security, signaled his support for Trump’s plans to deport migrants who commit crime in a press release on Tuesday.
As he has in the past, Cox pushed for a balanced view of immigration enforcement that combines the importance of strengthened border security and the value of streamlined work visa programs to meet the state’s needs.
Utah will continue to be known as a place that welcomes refugees and migrants who enter the country legally, Cox said.
“We have zero tolerance, however, for those who demonstrate a threat to public safety while in the country illegally,” Cox said. “Federal immigration authorities have failed in their duty to the American people and they’ve left states and localities to independently manage the fallout of those failures. We’re grateful to have an administration coming in who will take these problems seriously.”
Cox proposed five policy priorities to increase coordination with federal and local partners to identify and deport “more illegal immigrants who have committed crimes and pose a threat to public safety.”
The priorities, which will be pursued in a joint effort with the Utah Department of Public Safety and the Utah Department of Corrections, include:
“When it comes to immigration policy, the safety of Utah residents is my top priority,” Cox said in the press release.
Cox has repeatedly argued that the Biden administration’s policies of decreasing thresholds for asylum claims and allowing migrants to await court hearings in the interior of the country — policies which Biden has tightened up or reversed in the final months of his presidency — have contributed to every state being a border state.
Migrants who entered the country illegally make up around 4.6% of Utah’s prison population, Cox’s press release said, costing Utahns upwards of $16 million every year. The majority of crimes committed by these inmates are sex offenses and murder, the statement said.
They also include drug distribution and gang activity. More than half of the drug-related felony offenses committed this year along the Jordan River Trail were committed by migrants who had entered the country illegally. And members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were identified in Utah this last spring.
Over the last four years, Utah law enforcement has run into multiple problems with Biden’s ICE agents refusing to find additional detention space in the state for arrested migrants and releasing migrants back into Utah communities after they were turned over to ICE by state law enforcement.
Many Utah communities have been impacted by increased levels of immigration. The southwest corner of Salt Lake Valley has been especially affected, as schools there deal with increased numbers of English language learners and county courts have had to increase budgets to address migrant criminal activity.
In response to Cox’s call for state legislative action on migrant crime, Utah’s House Republican supermajority told the Deseret News it is working on a package of bills to address the public safety impacts of illegal immigration.
“While the details are still being worked through, we know for certain that we must act to address the strain on Utah’s communities, public safety resources, and education system,” House majority whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, said in a statement.
The bill package will include policies to deter human and drug trafficking and “other criminal activity that endangers Utah residents,” according to Lisonbee. “We appreciate Gov. Cox’s partnership and look forward to working with the incoming Trump administration to address this critical issue.”
The state legislature’s Democratic leadership expressed worry that Cox’s announcement did not do enough to “distinguish between those who commit crimes and those seeking better lives for themselves and their families.”
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, and House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, responded to Cox’s policy initiatives by saying lawmakers need to work to increase trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities to ensure victims feel safe reporting crimes.
“The governor’s announcement raises serious concerns about equating immigration with criminality and scapegoating undocumented communities,” Escamilla and Romero said in a joint statement. “While we all want to hold criminals accountable and ensure public safety, this approach risks creating fear and misrepresenting undocumented individuals, many of whom contribute significantly to Utah’s economy, culture, and workforce.”
Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, shared the same concern that Cox’s initiatives could expand beyond a focus just on those migrants “who have committed crimes and pose a threat to public safety.”
“Enforcement resources should focus on removing bad actors to make our communities safer,” Murray told the Deseret News in a statement. “The governor’s policy seems reasonable, but we’ll be watching how it’s implemented.”