Utah Compact Problem Points:

1.  The Utah Compact was created by a group of people who were already in agreement, for the most part, on how to address illegal immigration issues.  The general public and those holding opposing views were not heard from in its creation.   Therefore, it is one-sided in its approach to illegal immigration, but attempts to mask that fact by pointing to the diverse areas of public life it's creators represent.

2.  The Utah Compact uses manipulative language and text structure in an attempt to bring the reader into agreement with it and buy into amnesty.

3.  The actual workings of the group that created the Utah Compact are shrouded in mystery - as if the public had no right to have a clear statement about the process, who was involved, and whether or not any outside group, such as the left-wing pro-amnesty National Immigration Forum, was pushing the process to achieve a political agenda that most Utahns might object to.

4.  The Utah Compact was designed to be a way to sell the idea of amnesty to conservatives.  It is part of a national campaign to lead to amnesty.  Part of the campaign is to create a "conservative" face for amnesty and draw in conservative supporters that the left-wing amnesty and cheap-labor groups know are necessary to achieve a national amnesty. 

5.  The Utah Compact embodies a concept of the rule of law that stands it on its head.  It attempts to place the perceived needs of those who should not be in the United States above the law by implying that the law, when it comes to illegal immigrants, should be ignored and illegal immigrants accommodated.  The Compact promotes no mechanism for assisting the federal government in discouraging increased numbers of illegal immigrants from moving to Utah in the future - who, according to the Compact, should be welcomed.

6.  The Utah Compact has been used to work against enforcement legislation and played a role in the recall election that removed Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce from office.  The support for the Compact by the LDS Church has been used by amnesty proponents in a manipulative way to create a "no-win" trap for LDS politicians to either support amnesty or be seen as going against the Church.  This "trap" leads to an unacceptable religious-test for public service.

7.  The Utah Compact sets up a false "no-win" choice for people who want to enforce our immigration laws.  Either you are for the Utah Compact and its set of values in addressing illegal immigration or you are outside of the realm of responsible options and are, therefore, an extremist.  This is a ploy to limit the debate, not enlighten it.  By screening out everything that isn't part of the Utah Compact's model for addressing illegal immigration, the debate becomes limited, simplistic, and directed towards the specific policy agendas of those who created the Compact.  Such reductionism cannot adequately deal with the complexity of the immigration issue.

8.  The Utah Compact falsely implies that states have no role in immigration enforcement.  In the face of federal inaction in enforcing our very reasonable immigration laws, states do have room to work to restore integrity to our immigration laws.

9.  One goal of the Utah Compact is to provide political cover so that reluctant legislators/politicians can be pulled toward supporting amnesty.

10.  The Utah Compact was the end point of one deceptive process (creating the Utah Compact) and part of another (creating and passing HB116).

11.  Those behind and promoting the Utah Compact may have ulterior motives for pushing it,  yet it is sold as a collection of noble principles.  These motives may include financial interests, promoting cheap-labor flows into Utah, and leftist political power goals.

12.  The uses to which the Utah Compact has been put and the types of laws created are indicators of the purpose for which it was created. 

13.  The Utah Compact makes no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants.

14.  The Utah Compact was signed and subsequently celebrated on Veterans Day - subtly implying, although perhaps not intentionally, that the call to legalize illegal immigrants is more significant to the Utah Compact backers than honoring the nation's veterans.

15.  The Utah Compact implies that a humane approach to illegal immigration means ignore the law and grant amnesty.  Welcoming the "stranger," however, does not mean accepting illegal immigration.  Christian charity should be granted to those in need, but such charity does not mandate ignoring immigration laws. 

16.  The National Immigration Forum (NIF) was a central force in the creation of the Utah Compact.  The NIF finds its home among leftist amnesty groups that are funded to a large extent by left-wing sources.  The Utah Compact is part of  a national amnesty campaign to benefit the leftist amnesty movement and their cheap-labor allies.  The NIF's ties to radical leftist organizations cannot be ignored.

17.  The Utah Compact mixes general principles with statements indicating specific policies.  This mix is unjustified if the Utah Compact intends to be a guide to an open and free discussion about how to respond to illegal immigration.    By incorporating specific policy guidelines into itself, the Utah Compact lays bare that it is a document in service of a particular approach to illegal immigration and that the principles are window dressing to sell the policy points of the Compact.