The Red-State City That’s Doing Immigration Right

On September 1, 1998, the gathering of the Salt Lake City Council began as most municipal legislative meetings do. Officials recited the Pledge of Allegiance. They ticked through a litany of appointments and reappointments. They sorted through the business of little fiefdoms like the Golf Enterprise Fund Advisory Board.

A large retinue of residents waited in the wings, but not for this. They had come to speak on what everyone knew would be the big-ticket item of the evening, which the council...