Owens unveils bill meant to curb transport of migrants from city to city

SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, has crafted legislation meant to prevent transport of migrants from one city to another using federal money, spurred by a political flare up in June over movement of immigrants from Denver to Salt Lake City.

“Self-declared sanctuary cities like Denver are abusing loopholes in the law and using federal taxpayer dollars to transport illegal immigrants to nonsanctuary cities like Salt Lake City,” Owens said in a statement.

His measure, which was publicly unveiled Friday, would prohibit use in certain circumstances of Federal Emergency Management Agency Shelter and Services Program grant funds to cover the costs of transporting migrants from one place to another. News emerged in June that Denver had covered the cost of sending immigrants to Salt Lake City, drawing Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s ire, and Owens said officials in the Colorado city tapped Shelter and Services Program funds to offset the transportation costs.

“Right now we have migrants showing up at our airports, bus stations and city halls with no support, services or sponsors, after being dumped by so-called sanctuary cities,” Owens said. His proposal, the Sanctuary City Oversight and Responsibility in Enforcement Act, would allow use of Shelter and Services Program funds to transport immigrants but only if support for those being moved was first secured in the destination locale.

Reports that Denver had sent immigrants lacking permanent legal status to the Salt Lake City area prompted a strong response from Cox, a Republican. According to a Denverite article in February, Denver had bought thousands of bus tickets for immigrants dating to November 2022, with some 3,400 to Chicago, 2,880 to New York City and 1,680 to Salt Lake City.

“We recently learned that the Democrat mayor of Denver has been sending illegal immigrants to Utah without proper notification or approval,” Cox said in June. “This is completely unacceptable and follows on the failed catch-and-release policy of the Biden administration.”

At the same time, Cox, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County officials reported that homeless shelters were packed and social services were being overwhelmed. The state, city and county jointly crafted a flier meant for public distribution advising “asylum seekers” looking to relocate to consider steering clear of Utah unless they had “a safe, stable connection or family” in the state. Many of those crossing the Mexico border into the United States — spur for heightened alarm and debate among many lawmakers — are seeking political asylum.

In his statement, Owens took aim at the administration of President Joe Biden and what he described as the influx of “10 million unvetted people” into the United States. Reps from his office didn’t immediately respond to queries seeking more information on the figure. The legislation also includes a bullet list of killings and other violent crimes allegedly committed by immigrants lacking permanent legal status since August 2023.

The city of Salt Lake deferred comment on Owens’ proposal but noted the difficulty in keeping tabs on the migrant population in the city.

Most migrants, the city said in response to KSL.com queries on the matter, “appear not to have contact with service providers or government officials upon actual arrival, so it’s incredibly difficult to track.” Moreover, city officials don’t know how many migrants Denver officials aided in relocating to Salt Lake City “and we may only encounter a small portion of migrants as most likely secure their own supports outside of the state-funded shelter system.”

Cox’s office referred comment on the matter to the state official charged with addressing matters related to immigration, who didn’t immediately respond Friday. Likewise, representatives from Denver and Salt Lake County didn’t immediately respond.

Earlier this year, Owens introduced a separate bill, also supported by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, to keep immigrants lacking permanent legal status from boarding commercial airplanes to the United States.