Thread: Experts: New law driving out illegals (from Arizona)

Experts: New law driving out illegals
AMANDA LEE MYERS

PHOENIX — Illegal immigrants in Arizona, frustrated with a flagging economy and tough new legislation cracking down on their employers, are returning to their home countries or trying their luck in other states.

For months, immigrants have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the state’s new employer-sanctions law, which takes effect Jan. 1. The voter-approved legislation is an attempt to lessen the economic incentive for illegal immigrants in Arizona, the busiest crossing point along the U.S.-Mexico border.

And by all appearances, it’s starting to work.

“People are calling me telling me about their friend, their cousin, their neighbors - they’re moving back to Mexico,â€

[quote] “And certainly that creates a problem, because as people leave, they take the jobs they created with them.â€