Thread: Study Shows Economic Downside Of Illegal Immigration Crackdo

Study Shows Economic Downside Of Illegal Immigration Crackdown, Coalition Says
Last updated Monday, April 7, 2008 7:35 PM CDT in News
By John Lyon


LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas' economy would suffer if the state were to pass punitive legislation targeting immigrants, members of the Arkansas Friendship Coalition said Monday, citing a recent study conducted in Oklahoma to back up their argument.

At a news conference at the state Capitol, members of the coalition -- which opposes punitive laws aimed at immigrants in Arkansas -- quoted from a March economic study projecting that anti-illegal immigration legislation passed last year in Oklahoma could lead to an annual reduction in Oklahoma's gross state product of about $1.8 billion.

"The projection is their economy will suffer, and suffer greatly," said the Rev. Steve Copley of North Little Rock, chairman of the coalition of church, civic and business organizations.

Two protesters attended the news conference and held up signs expressing opposition to the coalition's position.

Copley said the coalition scheduled Monday's news conference before learning that the group Secure Arkansas has filed a proposed ballot initiative that would require verification of immigration status before Arkansans over 13 could receive public benefits.

If that measure gets on the ballot, the coalition will raise money to campaign against it, Copley said.

"We oppose it based on the fact that we're opposed to any kind of state or local law that would be punitive toward the immigrant community, and it's a federal issue, not a state issue that the state can solve, firstly. Second of all, it's flawed. In many ways it replicates (existing laws)," he said.

The economic study, commissioned by the Oklahoma Bankers Association, considered the impact of the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007. The law requires law enforcement officers in Oklahoma to check the immigration status of anyone arrested on a felony or drunken driving charge, restricts the ability of illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses or public assistance and makes it a felony for U.S. citizens to knowingly provide shelter, transportation or employment to illegal immigrants.

According to the study, the law is likely to result in an exodus of foreign-born workers from Oklahoma, including many who are in the country legally, and would lead to a worker shortage.

"Due to the mixed residency status of many foreign-born families and communities, it is unlikely that the legislation's incentives to out migrate are limited to undocumented workers," researchers with Economic Impact Group of Edmond, Okla., wrote in a report on the study.

The study projected that if 25,000 foreign-born workers left Oklahoma, the gross state product would see an annual reduction of $785,000. If 90,000 foreign-born workers left the state, the gross state product would be reduced annually by $3 billion, it said.

The most probable scenario is that about 50,000 workers, or about half of Oklahoma's foreign-born labor force, will leave the state, the researchers wrote. That would cost the state 3 percent of its total work force and reduce the gross state product annually by nearly $1.8 billion, according to the study.

"We can see what Oklahoma is about to go through. We certainly don't want that to occur in the state of Arkansas, especially when our economy may be entering a time of recession," Copley said.

Kenny Wallis of North Little Rock, president of Keep Arkansas Legal and one of two protesters who attended the news conference, said studies like the one commissioned by the Oklahoma Bankers Association look only at economics while ignoring issues such as criminal activity by illegal immigrants.

"Also, many of these studies don't differentiate between legal immigrants and illegals," Wallis said.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/ ... limmig.txt

Forget it. Sure there will some economic impact, but in the long run it is better for American workers and better for America.

Besides, not everything in the world is about making a dollar.

W

The article doesn't mention how much the state will save by no longer having to educate all the anchor babies, and provide medical care and other social services.