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Arizonans angry at wrong people over immigration
Apr. 16, 2005 12:00 AM

Arizona has declared war on illegal immigration. Or so we say.

Down on the border, the Minutemen are patrolling for people trying to come here illegally. Over at the Capitol, the Legislature is patrolling for new ways to crack down on people here illegally. And in between, an Army reservist actually pulled a gun this week on people here illegally.

I think it can safely be said that Arizona is fed up with people here illegally.

As Rep. Russell Pearce, one of the leaders of the movement, said recently, "Just like in hostage situations, you don't negotiate with the bad guys."

Actually, I agree with him. You don't negotiate with the bad guys. So where are the bills cracking down on business?

One in three newcomers to Arizona over the past five years is someone who had to sneak into the state. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 500,000 people live here illegally.

Well, they're working somewhere.

Care to guess how many Arizona businesses were sanctioned last year for employing people here illegally? Care to guess how many bills in the Legislature this year target businesses that hire people illegally?

That would be zero.

While everyone focuses their anger at the people who sneak across the border, the people who lure them here with the promise of a job are ollie ollie oxen free.

I waited all week for Pearce to call so I could ask him where the bills cracking down on businesses are. I'm still waiting. To be fair, he did propose a bill last year that would have required the state to pull licenses or permits of businesses that are sanctioned for hiring people here illegally.

The bill went nowhere because it was opposed by a who's who of Arizona employers, including the Western Growers Association, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Contractors Association and the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association. They complained it would give the federal government "death penalty power" over Arizona businesses.

They needn't have worried. Only 30 Arizona employers have been fined for hiring undocumented workers over the past 11 years, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement records. Not a single resort hotel has been fined. Not a single home builder. In fact, 12 of the 30 were Filiberto's restaurants. The last time an Arizona business was sanctioned was in 2001.

In all the country, records show only six businesses were fined by ICE in 2004. Last month, Wal-Mart agreed to an $11 million fine for using undocumented workers to mop floors. That record penalty represents a little over nine hours' profitfor the megaretailer.

Manny Van Pelt, an ICE spokesman, told me that since 2001, the agency has focused on infrastructure and national security. Last month, for example, nine Mexicans were arrested at Pacific Maintenance Co., a Tucson firm that cleans buildings for national defense contractors. "We do have finite resources and we do have to prioritize in wake of 9/11," Van Pelt said. "You have to ask yourself, what is critical infrastructure? Is it going after a restaurant in Arizona or do we keep airplanes in the sky?"

Of course, if stopping illegal immigration was really a priority, ICE would have the money to do both.

The problem is, it isn't.

And so we're fed up. We're angry at the people who swarm across the border and drain state coffers. Yet we say nothing about the businesses that use them to boost profits or the politicians who allow it.

It's easier, I suppose, to pass a bill denying day care to a child and say now we're getting tough.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8635