Thread: Eyes on Arizona as it turns off immigration magnet

Eyes on Arizona as it turns off immigration magnet
by Frank James

Arizona's get-tough approach on illegal immigration is being watched closely around the nation, and here in Washington, by federal immigration enforcement officials, policymakers, lawmakers immigration advocates and opponents, just about anyone with any interest in the issue.

What they're seeing so far is that in advance of a new Arizona law cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants that is set to take effect Jan. 1, employers are firing undocumented workers and illegal residents are also leaving the state, some saying they're departing for good.

The Arizona Republic, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and others, have all produced stories recently looking at what's occuring in Arizona.

The Republic story, by reporter Daniel González, which ran earlier this week starts this way:

NOGALES, Sonora - It's a common scene this time of year: streams of overloaded cars, pickups and vans with U.S. license plates crossing into Mexico for the holidays.

Most are filled with Hispanic families from Arizona and other states on their way to visit relatives south of the border for a few weeks before heading back to the U.S. But this year, the holiday travelers are being joined by scores of families such as Jorge and Liliana Franco, who are driving to Mexico not to visit but to stay - permanently.

Congress' failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform, immigration crackdowns, Arizona's new employer-sanctions law and a sluggish economy have combined to create a climate that undocumented families such as the Francos no longer find hospitable.

The number returning to Mexico is difficult to calculate, but there is no question that many families are leaving, according to Mexican government officials, local community leaders and immigrants themselves.

"The situation in Arizona has become very tough," Jorge said minutes after driving into a Mexican immigration and customs checkpoint south of the border on Mexico 15.



Dozens of immigrants are leaving the U.S. daily, and even more are expected to leave once the sanctions law takes effect in January, provided the law survives a last-minute legal challenge, said Rosendo Hernandez, president of the advocacy group Immigrants Without Borders.

"If people can't find work, they won't be able to pay their bills, so they will leave," Hernandez said.

The Associated Press had its own version of this story today.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal had a story last week by Miriam Jordan about business response to the new law.

PHOENIX - Arizona businesses are firing Hispanic immigrants, moving operations to Mexico and freezing expansion plans ahead of a new law that cracks down on employers who hire undocumented workers.

The law, set to take effect on Jan. 1, thrusts Arizona into the heart of the national debate on illegal immigration, which has become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail. Republican candidates, in particular, have been battling to show how tough they are on the issue.

Arizona's law, believed to be the strictest in the nation, is shaping up as a test of how employers will react when faced with real sanctions for hiring undocumented labor. It is being closely watched by businesses across the country. While proponents say the crackdown will save the state money on services for illegal immigrants, some businesspeople fear Arizona's economic growth may be at risk.

As the AP story indicates, some of the departing illegal residents could be "trying their luck in other states" which is likely.

There are plenty of other states for them to try since no other state has yet gone as far as Arizona, essentially making it a state crime for any employer to knowingly keep an illegal immigrant on the payroll. According to this Stateline.org article, a few states -- Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia--have laws on the books that prevent state contractors from employing undocumented workers.

The manner in which many states have decided to crack down on illegal immigration is currently one of the most fascinating trends and exercises in public policy in the U.S.

States have long been called the laboratories of democracy because of their cutting-edge role in trying out new policy initiatives that, when found effective, are expanded to other states and sometimes nationally as the federal government adopts them.

(The Stateline.org article does an exhaustive job of describing who's doing what on the state level.)

Of course, some states, like Illinois, New York and California haven't been inclined to crack down, just the opposite. Illinois lawmakers, for instance, passed a law banning in-state employers from checking their employees' legal work status against a federal database. The state and the federal government recently agreed the state wouldn't enforce the law immediately, letting a Homeland Security Department lawsuit against Illinois work its way through the federal courts.

But the states that are enacting the anti-immigration legislation appear to have the momentum on their side.

And that momentum may become so forceful that we eventually see a defacto national program of immigration enforcement that will force the federal government to eventually act to acknowledge that new reality.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/po ... ns_of.html

States have long been called the laboratories of democracy because of their cutting-edge role in trying out new policy initiatives that, when found effective, are expanded to other states and sometimes nationally as the federal government adopts them.



A very good reason to look at Ron Paul's idea of returning the constitutionally given rights back to the states.

Anything substantive that has been done on illegal immigration has been done on a local and state level.

Thursday, December 13, 2007
With feds stuck, states take on immigration
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer

(Updated 1:30 p.m. EST, Monday, Dec. 17) If you need any proof of how divided America is on immigration, look at its state capitols.

State lawmakers have taken widely divergent approaches to dealing with an influx of immigrants, including 11 million thought to be here illegally. Some states are rolling out welcome mats while others are slamming shut their doors.



For example, Oklahoma lawmakers signed off on a sweeping anti-illegal immigration law in 2007, responding to the 56,000 foreign-born residents who have come to the Sooner State since 2000 for jobs in meat-packing, construction and service industries. The new measure, which took effect Nov. 1, punishes employers who hire undocumented workers, gives police more tools to start deporting them and denies them state identification and benefits.

“Illegal aliens will not come to Oklahoma if there are no jobs. They will not stay if they don’t have welfare benefits. They will not want to come if they know they can be detained until they are deported,â€