On Tuesday, residents from across Summit, Wasatch and nearby counties met at the Wasatch Fire Department Community Room in Heber City for an open conversation about immigration with those who hold different views, looking for areas where their perspectives intersect.
The workshop, along with a separate community discussion held in Park City later that day, were part of the multi-day Braver Angels Mobile Summit across the state, which focuses on finding common ground.
Braver Angels is a national nonprofit that brings people with differing political viewpoints together for structured conversations aimed at reducing polarization. From the start, facilitators emphasized that the goal wasn’t to win arguments, but to identify areas of agreement.
“First, we’re here to understand others and to explain our views, not to convince anyone to change their mind,” co-founder of Braver Angels David Lapp told the group at the start of the session. He also serves as the director of the organization’s Citizens Commission on Immigration.
“No eye rolling or loud sighs,” Lapp added, prompting laughs from the room.
The Heber event followed Braver Angels’ Common Ground Workshop model, which brings together equal numbers of conservatives and liberals — “reds” and “blues” — for a structured conversation focused on a single issue. The format includes both small-group and full-group discussions, with observers allowed to sit in. Participants are asked to speak from personal experience, listen to those who see the issue differently and work toward identifying any areas of shared concern or agreement.
Unanimous points of agreement from workshops held around the country are being compiled for a report to Congress in 2026, and those who took part in Tuesday’s session will be invited to join a follow-up constituent conversation with one of Utah’s congressional offices this spring.
To kick off the session, people introduced themselves by name, where they live and whether they were attending as red or blue for the purposes of the workshop. They also shared why it was important for them to be there.
“I believe in the mission of Braver Angels. And I think this is one of the most important, most divisive issues in our country,” said one participant who travelled from Phoenix, Arizona, to attend the meeting.
The circle included clergy, mental health workers, educators, elected officials, volunteers involved in new immigration legal aid efforts and residents who described themselves as independent or “somewhat moderate.”
Multiple participants had direct family or professional connections to immigration. Several spoke about being children or grandchildren of immigrants from countries including Germany, Egypt, Turkey and Switzerland. Others mentioned working with refugees, DACA recipients and families stuck in the long backlog of the legal system.
The first major exercise asked participants to move into an inner circle by political identity. Those who identified as red spoke first, while blues moved their chairs back and listened without responding. Then the roles flipped.
The questions were simple but personal: What is at the heart of the immigration issue for you, and what experience or relationship led you there?
For reds, concerns about safety and children surfaced repeatedly. One participant said they felt “highly passionate about children and their needs,” wanting both kids in the United States and children arriving at the border to be safe and cared for. They said they want people to come “safely and legally” and, while they did not believe most newcomers are dangerous, they worried about the consequences if even a few people with harmful intentions slip through.
Other reds talked about national identity, social cohesion and fairness. One person said they saw immigration as closely tied to “our national identity,” arguing that diversity can be a strength but also a challenge when people no longer share basic civic values. Another described frustration with being heavily screened when flying as an American citizen, while feeling that the country does not always know who is entering at the border.
On the blue side, many comments started with human dignity and faith. Several participants, including a Christian clergy, pointed to religious teachings about welcoming strangers, refugees and foreigners, and argued that those stories leave little room for indifference toward immigrants, regardless of legal status.
One described immigration as “not a political issue, but a humanitarian issue” at its core.
Several participants in the dialogue focused on the complexity of the current system. A participant told a story about a friend whose green card was lost in the mail, forcing them to spend a full day watching the porch for the replacement because a second loss could have jeopardized her status. Another recounted following an Afghan family’s journey after the U.S. withdrawal, from Pakistan to Brazil and through the Darién Gap, before they were finally able to present themselves at the U.S. border and request parole.
Later in the workshop, reds and blues moved into separate rooms to see whether they could identify values, concerns and possible remedies they thought the other side might also accept. They were encouraged to think about statements that were honest to their own views but also had a realistic chance of being shared.
Kris Campbell, program director at Mountain Mediation and a volunteer with the Utah Braver Angels Alliance, was one of the “blues” in attendance.
“The Tuesday events were fantastic with excellent turnout given short notice and a number of canvassing meetings going on that elected officials needed to attend,” he said. “People across the political spectrum reached 31 unanimous points of agreement on values, concerns, policies and remedies regarding immigration.”
Campbell first connected with Braver Angels while running for office in 2022, when he helped organize a series of “Braver Town Halls” with another candidate.
“Those town halls were such a rewarding experience of real, meaningful dialogue with voters and constituents,” he said. “I’ve been a volunteer with the Utah Braver Angels Alliance since 2023, doing what I can to improve our political climate by hosting and organizing these workshops and conversations in Utah.”
Mountain Mediation, which serves Summit and Wasatch counties, is part of the Braver Network and regularly facilitates community conversations and “Let’s Talk” trainings on a wide range of topics. Campbell said the organization is “excited to partner with and host state and national organizations” to bring more workshops and conversations like Tuesday’s to the Wasatch Back.
Event organizers noted that more sessions are expected next year. Details about Braver Angels are at braverangels.org, and Mountain Mediation’s offerings are listed at mountainmediationcenter.org.