The number of driver privilege cards issued in Utah to immigrants here without permission hit a six-year low in 2014, state figures how.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the 35,200 cards issued last year are down from a high of 43,000 in 2008. Since 2005, Utah has issued driving-privilege cards that must be renewed annually for those who cannot prove they’re in the country legally.
Economist Pam Perlich of the University of Utah says the figures show immigration has come to a virtual standstill in Utah. Luis Garza, executive director of Communidades Unidas, says they’ve seen some immigrant families go home since the Great Recession.
The Pew Research Center estimates there are 100,000 immigrants without legal permission living in Utah, while the Migration Policy Institute estimates there are 88,000.
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