From Judy Olsen comes a letter to the editor of the Deseret News suggesting a "Utah solution" to the dilemma of what to do for those immigrants who are here undocumented.
   If they lack a Social Security number, let them register for a Utah state I.D., Olsen suggests. She says there would be two benefits. "First, people would be given temporary work privileges without the need of falsifying or stealing Social Security numbers," she writes. "Second, the state could impose taxes roughly equivalent to what the rest of us pay in federal and state taxes, only the money would stay in Utah."
   I like Olsen's idea. I like it that we should make it possible for them to work legally. I like it that we should get them to pay taxes, the same as the rest of us. No more working under the table.
   But, there is a problem. Once they are on the rolls, doesn't ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement) come looking for them?
   Utah already has a Driver Privilege Card that is issued to the undocumented, should they want it. That program, began in 2005, allows them to get drivers' insurance, and thus reduces the number of uninsured motorists. The program calls for them not to be identified to ICE, but there is question as to whether ICE does get enough information that it can identify them. Federal law enforcement offices do have access to who has driving privileges. Although the records don't distinguish between regular drivers and those with the Driver Privilege Cards, at least one immigration attorney, Aaron Tarin, has suggested he has seen an "undeniable statistical pattern" of ICE detaining immigrants after they renew their cards. (This, from a Sept. 1, 2017, Deseret News article.)
   But, if you already have the cards, why not expand the program to what Olsen is calling for?
   Now, this is a big deal. Giving undocumented immigrants the right to work and the ability to pay taxes in their own name probably has never been done. Utah was one of the first, if not the first, to offer the Driver Privilege Cards, so that, too, was a big deal.
   I wonder on Olsen's suggestion. I wonder on whether instead of just doing it, we should get the federal government to sign off on it. All we would need is their approval that we not turn the names over to them. We are not granting immigrants the right to stay. The federal government will still be coming after them. None of that changes. The law is still the law and immigrants are still subject to all the laws that deport them. They are not getting a free pass to stay in this country. The only difference is that while they are here, they are paying taxes and not working under the table.
   Those are things that everyone should want.