Although they drastically disagree on who illegal immigrants are, those with strong opinions on immigration agree on one thing -- the American public is becoming aware of the complexity of the now hot-button issue, and any plan for reform can generate displays of support.

Tony Yapias, of Proyecto Latino de Utah, says that people are more aware of the issue and are "talking (about immigration) a lot more today than they ever have been in the past.

"It's very clear since this issue has come to the front line that we have gotten more support for the cause," he says. "At the march more than 40,000 people showed up in support of immigration reform."

The immigration reform that most were marching to support is "comprehensive, in line with what the Senate and President Bush are promoting," he says.

"We have an immigration law that's flawed and needs to be adapted to the times," Yapias says, stressing the need for change. Historically, groups of immigrants have often become the subject of controversy, a sign, says Yapias, that immigration policy "needs to be tuned up periodically."

According to that theory, the latest debate is merely evidence that the immigration policy needs another tune-up.

For Yapias, that tune-up doesn't include deporting the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the country.

"Many politicians realize that it's impossible to deport all those people. And it's even more complex than that," he says, mentioning how difficult it is to deport people when their children or other family members are U.S. citizens. "We need compassionate reform."

Yapias even shared statistics to show that immigrants are deserving of that compassion and understanding from citizens. "Ninety-eight percent of the immigrants are contributing and hard-working," he says. "Less than 3 percent of the Latinos here speak only Spanish."

Alex Segura, of the Utah Minuteman Project, takes the opposite view, saying that the compassion and understanding belongs first to the citizens. "After 9-11 we have to start taking care of ourselves (the U.S. citizens) and have some security," he says.

According to Segura, the large marches with Latinos suggesting that citizens "owe them (immigrants) a living" have strengthened the position taken by the Minuteman Project.

Even though he states that the public doesn't know the extent of the problem, he cites the actions of the National Guard as evidence that border security is more of a priority with the government and the public.

"We need to secure the borders now and deal with the problems we already have," he says. And those problems are serious, he says, noting that U.S. citizens are dealing with higher levels of crime from Salvadoran gangs and identity theft, of which he says 90 percent of the cases in Utah are perpetrated by illegal aliens.

The immigrants also face problems, according to Segura, because businesses pay them so little that "they wind up living in a higher level of poverty than in their own country," with numerous people and families crowded into a single residence.

"We're where we are because of poor policy and lack of enforcement," he says.

But while Yapias also stated that immigration policy was inadequate, Segura doesn't agree with Pres. Bush's proposed reforms. In fact, Segura believes that neither the Senate bill nor any immigration reform will become law this year because current proposals lack public support.

Segura's goal is to enhance enforcement, secure the border and avoid the creation of amnesty, which he says "causes a spike in border crossings." To accomplish this he believes that the public should "get educated and get involved; talk to the legislators."

For Mexican native and North Salt Lake resident Gabriela (name has been changed), the emphasis on enforcement from Minutemen and the bill passed by the House of Representatives in December is concerning. She worries that her family will be sent back to Mexico and her children will suffer.

Gabriela came to the United States on a passport she obtained when her children were babies, and now they have grown up speaking English and learning American customs. As a result, she doesn't know how they would learn to live in Mexico.

In spite of the worries that dominate her thoughts, Gabriela feels the support of her many neighbors and friends who attended the march in Salt Lake. And, she says, even local employers learned to accept the demonstration.

Speaking in Spanish, she explained that while the employers had asked for volunteers to stay and work during the march, those that left work to participate were accepted back with no more than an apology because the companies knew that they couldn't hire anyone else for the same low wages.

While Gabriela admits that most of the people she knows come to the United States in order to work for about 10 years and earn enough money to establish themselves well when they return, she says "the attitude is changing."

"People didn't want to lose their Mexican citizenship. Now some people think it's a good thing to become American citizens," she explained in Spanish.

Mostly, Gabriela hopes that the American people see that Hispanics "come here to work; they don't come here to do bad things. They are very humble people. They do any kind of work."

One more side of the immigration debate was emphasized by Damion Freestone, of Bountiful, who has been working to get his wife, a Japanese citizen, the proper paperwork to live in the United States, and was forced to separate his family for nine months in the process. For him, the most important issue with immigration is simplifying and expediting the process of gaining citizenship.

"Pricing is the biggest thing," he says, explaining that he could barely afford the fees for each step and each document.

He also mentioned that it was hard to understand exactly what he was supposed to do. "The process isn't standardized," he says, after explaining that he would get different instructions than the Senator's aide who was trying to help him, and the directions would change every time they spoke to a new person.

After remembering all the difficulties he went through as a U.S. citizen and a war veteran trying to bring his spouse to this country, Freestone says that he didn't fault others for crossing the border illegally and bypassing the system.

However, he doesn't agree with the current situation with illegal immigrants. "Most of the money (undocumented workers make) doesn't stay here," he says. "They aren't paying taxes, but they're getting definite benefits from our socialized programs."

While he wants to see change, Freestone isn't confident it will happen. "I don't see any politician sincere about making change," he says. "I would vote for someone that would really make a change," even if it meant voting against his party affiliation.

Freestone doesn't believe useful reform will happen because a reform that he thinks would make a difference would be more complicated than border security and deportation.

"If you're kicking people out and they're coming in faster than you can kick them out, it's not going to work."

He mentioned that reform would need to focus on the businesses as well, to eliminate the motivation for immigrants to come in illegally.

And, in order to document all of the immigrants in the country, he went back to his emphasis on reform in the process. "You're not going to do it (full documentation) when everything's done by paper," he says. Between documents lost in the mail and data entry errors, a paper-based process creates a lot of mistakes, he says.

According to Freestone, the real progress that needs to be made is in people's attitudes. "There's no real compromise," he says, and for reform to get started people need to stop criticizing every plan and start working on a compromise.

Although they drastically disagree on who illegal immigrants are, those with strong opinions on immigration agree on one thing -- the American public is becoming aware of the complexity of the now hot-button issue, and any plan for reform can generate displays of support.

Tony Yapias, of Proyecto Latino de Utah, says that people are more aware of the issue and are "talking (about immigration) a lot more today than they ever have been in the past.

"It's very clear since this issue has come to the front line that we have gotten more support for the cause," he says. "At the march more than 40,000 people showed up in support of immigration reform."

The immigration reform that most were marching to support is "comprehensive, in line with what the Senate and President Bush are promoting," he says.

"We have an immigration law that's flawed and needs to be adapted to the times," Yapias says, stressing the need for change. Historically, groups of immigrants have often become the subject of controversy, a sign, says Yapias, that immigration policy "needs to be tuned up periodically."

According to that theory, the latest debate is merely evidence that the immigration policy needs another tune-up.

For Yapias, that tune-up doesn't include deporting the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the country.

"Many politicians realize that it's impossible to deport all those people. And it's even more complex than that," he says, mentioning how difficult it is to deport people when their children or other family members are U.S. citizens. "We need compassionate reform."

Yapias even shared statistics to show that immigrants are deserving of that compassion and understanding from citizens. "Ninety-eight percent of the immigrants are contributing and hard-working," he says. "Less than 3 percent of the Latinos here speak only Spanish."

Alex Segura, of the Utah Minuteman Project, takes the opposite view, saying that the compassion and understanding belongs first to the citizens. "After 9-11 we have to start taking care of ourselves (the U.S. citizens) and have some security," he says.

According to Segura, the large marches with Latinos suggesting that citizens "owe them (immigrants) a living" have strengthened the position taken by the Minuteman Project.

Even though he states that the public doesn't know the extent of the problem, he cites the actions of the National Guard as evidence that border security is more of a priority with the government and the public.

"We need to secure the borders now and deal with the problems we already have," he says. And those problems are serious, he says, noting that U.S. citizens are dealing with higher levels of crime from Salvadoran gangs and identity theft, of which he says 90 percent of the cases in Utah are perpetrated by illegal aliens.

The immigrants also face problems, according to Segura, because businesses pay them so little that "they wind up living in a higher level of poverty than in their own country," with numerous people and families crowded into a single residence.

"We're where we are because of poor policy and lack of enforcement," he says.

But while Yapias also stated that immigration policy was inadequate, Segura doesn't agree with Pres. Bush's proposed reforms. In fact, Segura believes that neither the Senate bill nor any immigration reform will become law this year because current proposals lack public support.

Segura's goal is to enhance enforcement, secure the border and avoid the creation of amnesty, which he says "causes a spike in border crossings." To accomplish this he believes that the public should "get educated and get involved; talk to the legislators."

For Mexican native and North Salt Lake resident Gabriela (name has been changed), the emphasis on enforcement from Minutemen and the bill passed by the House of Representatives in December is concerning. She worries that her family will be sent back to Mexico and her children will suffer.

Gabriela came to the United States on a passport she obtained when her children were babies, and now they have grown up speaking English and learning American customs. As a result, she doesn't know how they would learn to live in Mexico.

In spite of the worries that dominate her thoughts, Gabriela feels the support of her many neighbors and friends who attended the march in Salt Lake. And, she says, even local employers learned to accept the demonstration.

Speaking in Spanish, she explained that while the employers had asked for volunteers to stay and work during the march, those that left work to participate were accepted back with no more than an apology because the companies knew that they couldn't hire anyone else for the same low wages.

While Gabriela admits that most of the people she knows come to the United States in order to work for about 10 years and earn enough money to establish themselves well when they return, she says "the attitude is changing."

"People didn't want to lose their Mexican citizenship. Now some people think it's a good thing to become American citizens," she explained in Spanish.

Mostly, Gabriela hopes that the American people see that Hispanics "come here to work; they don't come here to do bad things. They are very humble people. They do any kind of work."

One more side of the immigration debate was emphasized by Damion Freestone, of Bountiful, who has been working to get his wife, a Japanese citizen, the proper paperwork to live in the United States, and was forced to separate his family for nine months in the process. For him, the most important issue with immigration is simplifying and expediting the process of gaining citizenship.

"Pricing is the biggest thing," he says, explaining that he could barely afford the fees for each step and each document.

He also mentioned that it was hard to understand exactly what he was supposed to do. "The process isn't standardized," he says, after explaining that he would get different instructions than the Senator's aide who was trying to help him, and the directions would change every time they spoke to a new person.

After remembering all the difficulties he went through as a U.S. citizen and a war veteran trying to bring his spouse to this country, Freestone says that he didn't fault others for crossing the border illegally and bypassing the system.

However, he doesn't agree with the current situation with illegal immigrants. "Most of the money (undocumented workers make) doesn't stay here," he says. "They aren't paying taxes, but they're getting definite benefits from our socialized programs."

While he wants to see change, Freestone isn't confident it will happen. "I don't see any politician sincere about making change," he says. "I would vote for someone that would really make a change," even if it meant voting against his party affiliation.

Freestone doesn't believe useful reform will happen because a reform that he thinks would make a difference would be more complicated than border security and deportation.

"If you're kicking people out and they're coming in faster than you can kick them out, it's not going to work."

He mentioned that reform would need to focus on the businesses as well, to eliminate the motivation for immigrants to come in illegally.

And, in order to document all of the immigrants in the country, he went back to his emphasis on reform in the process. "You're not going to do it (full documentation) when everything's done by paper," he says. Between documents lost in the mail and data entry errors, a paper-based process creates a lot of mistakes, he says.

According to Freestone, the real progress that needs to be made is in people's attitudes. "There's no real compromise," he says, and for reform to get started people need to stop criticizing every plan and start working on a compromise.