Don't expect police officers in Utah's 10 largest cities or anywhere in the Salt Lake Valley to be asking about your citizenship status anytime soon.

Virtually across the board, police agencies are joining Salt Lake City and lining up against cross-deputizing their officers -- the only optional provision in the state's comprehensive immigration law that takes effect July 1 -- citing budget constraints and fears that enforcing federal immigration laws would inhibit their ability to protect residents.

"With the economy the way it is, everyone is just scrimping to make sure we take care of our citizens," Draper Police Chief Mac Connole said. "To reach out and do what the federal government is supposed to do is just beyond us right now."

Other suburban cities -- including West Jordan, Sandy, South Salt Lake and Taylorsville -- are waiting for the attorney general to establish a relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement before deciding whether to cross-deputize their police officers.

"We're kind of on a wait-and-see right now," Sandy Police Chief Steve Chapman said. "We're not making a commitment."

In fact, no large Utah city or Salt Lake County municipality has committed to cross-deputizing its officers -- as allowed under SB81. Even Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner, who as a state senator voted for the new law, is waiting.

"We don't know what [SB81] means until we see the MOU [memorandum of understanding] between the attorney general and homeland security," Greiner said. "The ability to cross-deputize was always there. But the MOU hasn't been written yet, so we don't know what it entails."

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is baffled that police agencies are waiting for him when they could cross-deputize by contacting ICE themselves. He said he has spent several months talking with police chiefs about what they would like to see, but none has expressed interest in enforcing federal immigration laws.

The only reason he was required to draft an accord with ICE, Shurtleff said, was to "create more pressure" on police departments to cross-deputize.

South Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Snyder said he is not against cross-deputization, which would give his officers access to federal intelligence. But he is frustrated that the state has not provided the funding needed to train his officers.

Ultimately, he said, it will be up to South Salt Lake's elected officials and residents to determine whether they want their police to enforce immigration laws.

"If my community wants it, it's my job, as a chief, to figure out how to make it happen," Snyder said. "My approach would be very limited and focused. ... I don't want officers to go knock on doors to check immigration status."

Layton Police Chief Terry Keefe cites budget constraints as well, noting he already is down personnel. He and other chiefs also worry that victims of crimes will be afraid to ask for help.

"I don't care where they're from -- they're a victim of a crime, and they need police services just like anybody else," Keefe said. "We're just going to do our job. We're going to provide police services to everybody."

In St. George, Deputy Police Chief Russell Peck said his department has no plans to cross-train officers.

"We focus our enforcement based on conduct and have our hands full doing what we're doing," he said. "That is the best use of our resources."

In Provo, police are conducting a legal review of SB81 to gauge its effect on the department before deciding what to do, said Capt. Cliff Argyle.

But police who oversee transportation are saying no to cross-deputization.

"Our focus is on taking care of all of our passengers," said Chad Saley, spokesman for the Utah Transit Authority.

The Salt Lake City International Airport force "doesn't see the benefit" to cross-deputization because those officers already work closely with ICE, said spokeswoman Barbara Gann.

That so many agencies are opting out of cross-deputization pleases Latino community activist Tony Yapias. SB81 has stirred up fears among documented and undocumented immigrants about increased racial profiling.

"Most police agencies don't want to get involved. They realize they're getting themselves into a big mess," Yapias said. "Even if they had a surplus of money to train officers, most don't have the appetite to do it, and we commend them for that."

Not everyone agrees.

"Opting out sends the message that if there's a loophole, we're going to take it," said Adam Leffler, president of Save Utah, a group bent on cracking down on illegal immigration. "I've had a lot of neighbors express to me, 'What about protecting my rights to have these laws enforced?' "

The only certain crackdown -- as required under SB81 -- will come in jail. Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder says his office will hold without bail any inmate in the country illegally.

"If you are arrested for an offense in Salt Lake County," Winder said, "it is highly likely that your immigration status will be checked. It is highly likely that your immigration status will be determined. And if you are here illegally, you will be detained and deported."

But that's as far as the sheriff will go. Winder -- like other police bosses -- has no plans to take immigration enforcement to the streets of Magna, Kearns, Riverton or any of the other communities his deputies patrol.

"There is no legal requirement for local officers to enforce immigration," he said. "There just isn't. There is no law."

 

smcfarland@sltrib.com

rwinters@sltrib.com

 

Tribune reporters Jeremiah Stettler, María Villaseñor, Mark Havnes, Donald W. Meyers and Katie Drake contributed to this report.

SB81's provisions

Optional

 

Local law enforcement may cross-deputize officers to enforce federal immigration law under an agreement to be negotiated between the attorney general and federal officials.

 

Mandatory

County sheriffs must make a reasonable effort to determine citizenship status of inmates.

Knowingly transporting or harboring an undocumented worker for personal financial gain becomes a class A misdemeanor.

Government employers and contractors must check citizenship of employees.

Undocumented immigrants ineligible for state or local benefit programs.