Bringing Them “Out of the Shadows”: Analyzing the Movement to Reframe the Immigration Policy Narrative in Utah

Abstract

The U.S. has approximately 11.5 million undocumented immigrants residing within its borders. Yet, the federal government has been unable to pass legislation addressing this issue. However, in 2010, an ideologically diverse group of individuals in Utah came together to craft a policy narrative they hoped would inform future immigration reform. These individuals held leadership roles in a variety of economic, political, sociocultural, and religious organizations resulting in The Utah Compact. Our research asks: Under what conditions did this group reframe the policy narrative? How did this reframing lead to the passage of Utah's own immigration policy reform? We find that the context and alternative framing of immigration engaged in by proponents shifted the discussion in Utah from an "enforcement only" approach to an economic and humanitarian approach which resulted in the passage of a state-level guest worker program while also influencing the policy narrative at the federal level.