Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the powerful Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, threatened Republican Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee with recall if they don't bow to the Chamber's demands for immediate amnesty for illegal aliens and their employers.
Beattie characterized the senators' requests for more time to evaluate and debate the overhaul of the nation's immigration system as "absolutely ridiculous to me". Then he played the recall card: "Good night. Maybe it's time to recall and get some people who understand what we need in business because in businesses we need some immigration changes. (Click here to listen to Beattie.)
Although Utah doesn't have a provision for recalling elected officials, Beattie's comments still highlight the arrogance and bullying tactics of the Salt Lake Chamber. However, they do not come as a surprise to Utahns since the Salt Lake Chamber expects Utah politicians and the public to accept its demands and influence without question.
While Beattie's bullying works with Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) and with a majority of Utah state legislators, Utah's U.S. senators have shown a streak of independence that is unacceptable to Beattie.
Over the years, Utah politicians have supported the Chamber's efforts to flood Utah with cheap, illegal alien labor. The politicians have also allowed the employers of illegal aliens to pass many of their costs on to taxpayers through Medicaid, food stamps, and other social welfare programs, English as a second language and other high-cost public school programs, and through in-state college tuition for illegal aliens.
Perhaps most egregiously, the Chamber and its members, with the help of elected officials, have directly contributed to the destruction of up to 80,000 innocent children's lives by facilitating illegal alien-driven, employment-related child identity theft. For the Salt Lake Chamber, these children are just part of the inevitable but necessary collateral damage that occurs when businesses maximize their profits.
In recent years, the Salt Lake Chamber was the driving force behind the disingenuous Utah Compact and Utah's involuntary servitude guest worker law (HB116) although its spokesperson takes pride in noting that the Chambers fingerprints are not found on either the Compact or HB116.
So it is not surprising that Beattie and the other Utah Chamber presidents, who blindly follow the Salt Lake Chamber's lead, demand total amnesty for employers as well as for illegal aliens.
Under the Chamber's demands, employers who have hired illegal aliens for years, failed to comply with Utah's E-Verify law, been accomplices to child identity theft, and who have violated payroll tax, minimum wage, and other employment-related laws will be granted amnesty from their infractions and crimes.
These same corrupt employers will further be allowed to continue employing their formerly illegal alien employees who are given amnesty from identity theft and other employment-related felonies. And, if the Chamber has its way, it will cost less to employ a former illegal alien than an American citizen.
In addition, the Chamber will very likely work behind the scenes to ensure that there are huge loopholes in border security and in employment verification requirements so its members will have access to a brand new group of illegal aliens once today's illegal aliens are legalized and start costing too much.
Sens. Hatch and Lee have been put on notice. Either do exactly what the Salt Lake Chamber says or face its wrath. After all, no one in Utah challenges the Salt Lake Chamber — not even a U.S. senator.
