Thread: Immigration laws send Hispanics elsewhere

February 24, 2008


Immigration laws send Hispanics elsewhere

2 states that approved crackdowns have seen an exodus of illegals
By Dan McFeely

February 24, 2008


Thousands of illegal immigrants have fled the two states that have enacted tough new immigration laws similar to the one before the Indiana General Assembly.
Since passing their laws, Oklahoma and Arizona have seen declines in school enrollments, a scarcity of construction workers and the sudden emptying of rental homes and apartments.
The same, some people say, would happen in Indiana, though advocates of stronger immigration laws say they would welcome the change.
The impact in Tulsa, Okla., was startling to Judy Feary, a principal at an elementary school where 59 percent of 1,000 students are Hispanic.
On opening day last fall, 180 Hispanic students did not show up for class at Kendall-Whittier Elementary.
"Some of them left. Others just hunkered down in their homes, afraid to come out," said Feary, a 38-year veteran of Tulsa schools.
"There were lots of rumors going around that they would be arrested and their children taken away. So we did some community outreach, and we had to talk them into returning to school."
Eventually, about 100 children were coaxed back, many of them U.S. citizens whose parents are not here legally. But across the Tulsa school district, the enrollment of Hispanic students is down by 257, an unexpected reversal of rising enrollments in recent years.
Whether that's good news or bad news depends on your view of illegal immigration.
Supporters of the bill by state Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, say jobs left open by fleeing immigrants will be filled by unemployed Americans, and fewer tax dollars will be spent on social services for illegal residents.
Critics see a looming gap in the state's economy as workers take their local spending dollars elsewhere.
Delph maintains that his bill, which would crack down on employers that hire illegal immigrants, does not target a specific group of people, but the fact that some who are here illegally might scatter is "part of the intention of the bill."
"You can't have it both ways," Delph said. "If you illegally entered the country, there are consequences. Just because the federal government has chosen not to enforce the law or an individual has skated by for years does not mean that judgment day won't be coming."
Delph also has a message to businesses that stand to lose employees: "There are plenty of able-bodied Hoosiers that need jobs that will be willing to do those jobs at a fair market wage."
Business interests disagree. They say Americans won't do the jobs immigrants are willing to take, often at low salaries.

Statistics from both sides

Indiana, home to an estimated 85,000 illegal immigrants, is not alone in trying to address illegal immigration. Legislatures in 46 states adopted 244 immigration-related measures last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Preserving jobs for Americans is just one factor motivating lawmakers. According to some estimates, the typical Hoosier family pays an extra $200 a year in taxes to fund social services -- health care, education and food assistance -- because of illegal immigration.
Foes of Delph's bill are armed with some of their own numbers. In recent weeks, testimony offered at the Statehouse has suggested that the Hispanic buying power in Indiana is nearly $5 billion a year and that even those who are not legal residents help contribute an estimated $200 million in taxes to local and state governments.
M. Esther Barber, executive director of the Mexican Civic Association of Indiana, told legislators in a written report that Indiana's economy would suffer a 30 percent hit from lost wages, lost business and less taxes paid if Delph's bill passes.
Evidence of similar trends can be seen in Oklahoma and Arizona.
In Tulsa, where an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Hispanics have left, restaurants are cutting back hours or closing, and local corporate leaders say many businesses are dealing with a 50 percent drop in business.
"I know that many of them have bolted to Texas, California or Minnesota," said Feary. "This kind of reminds me of some of the prejudice we experienced back when we integrated the schools."
Oklahoma was home to about 250,000 Hispanic residents out of a population of 3.57 million in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Arizona has 1.8 million Hispanics out of a population of 6.1 million. By comparison, Indiana has nearly 300,000 Hispanics out of 6.3 million people.
Oklahoma Rep. Randy Terrill, the legislator who authored that state's law making it illegal to harbor an illegal immigrant, has been quoted in media reports as saying the mass departure of Hispanics is a sign of success.
"It seems to be working pretty well," he told The Associated Press. "What was Oklahoma's problem is now some other state's problem."
The immigration crackdowns in Oklahoma and Arizona, according to the Houston Chronicle, have resulted in a large number of Hispanics -- up to 100 people a day -- moving to Texas, home to an estimated 1.6 million illegal immigrants in 2006.
Mike Means, executive director of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association, said home builders have noticed a 5 percent to 10 percent drop in the number of available workers in Oklahoma City.
"We are worried," Means said. "In general, our masonry crews, roofers, bricklayers and concrete . . . it's almost 100 percent Hispanic workers. And a lot of guys are legal. It's been kind of like a dark cloud on things.
"To me, it's a profiling issue. You can't tell by looking at them if they are legal or not. And this doesn't fix the immigration problem. It just pushes it off to another state."
That is perfectly fine with Dan Howard, a former Oklahoma state trooper who founded OutragedPatriots.com, a Web site that tracks illegal immigration news and views from around the nation, including Indiana.
"The only people that are whining about the shortage of labor now are those who profited off the backs" of illegal immigrants, Howard said. "And now they are no longer able to do so."
As to opponents who say the law has resulted in racial profiling and has racist undertones, Howard vigorously responds: "We are not racists. We are not bigots. We have an invasion going on in this country. It may not be armed, but we have the largest invasion on U.S. soil in U.S. history going on right now."

Arizona crackdown

That invasion has long been an issue in Arizona, a state that borders Mexico and deals with a much larger number of illegal immigrants than Indiana has or is likely to ever see.
Arizona's law targeting businesses that hire illegal workers was recently upheld by a federal court. And Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio can't wait to start enforcing it.
For the past year, the sheriff with a reputation for aggressive law enforcement techniques, including chain gangs, says his has been the only department that has enforced enhanced human-smuggling laws in Arizona, which took effect last year.
He's planning even more.
"We have 160 officers trained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest department in the U.S. to do so," Arpaio said.
On his department's Web site, he proudly keeps a running tally of arrests his department has made. Last week, the number was 843 people arrested on charges of transporting or being transported illegally in Arizona.
Indiana's law calls for the Indiana State Police to begin similar enforcement of federal immigration law, followed by local departments.
"A lot of people are leaving and going back to Mexico," Arpaio said. "I am not the favorite guy around here, but I don't care. I was elected to serve the people."
So far, Arpaio said, he has not noticed a decrease in local crime rates, but he suspects he will.
"Will these laws work? I would hope so," the sheriff said. "Right now a lot of them are skirting Maricopa County because they know if we catch them, they are going to go to our jails, and they will have to learn English. All our signs are in English."

Circus town hit hard

Back in Oklahoma, the state's new law and the national debate over immigration are wreaking havoc on the state's circus industry.
In the tiny town of Hugo, the winter home for circuses, the Circus Chimera has canceled its season this year because it cannot find enough workers to hoist tents, run rides and sell tickets.
Jim Judkins, who proudly says he ran away and joined the circus, has been in the business for more than three decades and has owned his own circus for 10 years.
Lately he has had a difficult time finding his usual supply of Mexican laborers, all of whom are legal and stay just long enough for the seasonal job, he says.
"I have canceled my season. I can't get any workers, and I have had to let 15 workers go," Judkins said.
Circus Chimera was supposed to kick off a 100-show season Feb. 1, making stops in cities and towns from Hugo to the West Coast.
The circus was unable to find enough workers, and the tents were never raised.
"Due to the heat on immigration, (lawmakers in Washington) are scared to death to pass anything that smells of immigration reform, even though these are not immigrants and they do not stay," Judkins said.
Finding American workers wouldn't work, he said.
"This is a traveling circus . . . moving from town to town. It's rough work.
"There are not very many Americans who want to travel from town to town to do that job. It's just not the type of job people want to do."

www.indystar.com

BTT

Supporters of the bill by state Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, say jobs left open by fleeing immigrants will be filled by unemployed Americans, and fewer tax dollars will be spent on social services for illegal residents.
Critics see a looming gap in the state's economy as workers take their local spending dollars elsewhere.

Uhhh those workers have been sending their local spending money back to their home countries - we never saw it! What they did spend in this country was the welfare money they got for their anchor kids - money they should have never got!

Less money out of OUR taxes to educate their kids (we know darn well they don't pay for their kids education!), less crowded schools, less traffic, etc, etc, etc. It's a no brainer!!!

Immigration laws send Hispanics elsewhere

Unfortunately, I do not think it's sending them back to mexico...or wherever their country of orgin may be.