Thread: Arizona economy bracing for immigration crackdown

PHOENIX, Arizona (AFP) - New laws targeting employers who hire illegal immigrants take effect here on January 1, with experts predicting the move may cost the state's economy billions of dollars in lost income and taxes.
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The new laws are described as the toughest local anti-illegal immigration legislation in the United States, and will sanction businesses who knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Any employer who falls foul of the law will see their business license suspended for 10 days for a first offense; a second infraction will see the license permanently revoked.

Judith Gans, a University of Arizona immigration policy expert who has studied the economic impact of illegal immigrants, said the new law will have a dramatic effect on the local economy.

"Industries will shrink and prices will go up," Gans told AFP.

The price of a hamburger, a head of lettuce, and a week's worth of gardening services will all increase as workforces shrink, Gans said.

Illegal immigrants "are filling gaps in the labor force, and as those gaps widen, prices will go up," she said. "That theory is not contested."

According to an October study released by Gans, Arizona's foreign-born population has tripled in less than two decades, from about 269,000 in 1990 to 831,000 in 2004.

Experts peg the state's illegal immigrant population at about half a million. Workers, mainly from Mexico, flock to pick lettuce in Yuma, make sushi in Phoenix, and clean hotel rooms in Flagstaff.

According to Gans' study, they make up 59 percent of the workforce in farming; 27 percent in construction; 51 percent in landscaping; 26 percent in hotel work; 23 percent in restaurants; 33 percent in private homes; and 46 percent in textile manufacturing.

Out of every six non-citizens in Arizona, five are illegal, according to Gans. Her study indicates the net 2004 fiscal impact of Arizona illegals was positive by about 940 million dollars, when balanced against costs of 1.4 billion dollars for education, health care, and law enforcement.

A public outcry and inaction by lawmakers in Washington to pass immigration reform laws, led state officials to pass the employer sanctions law.

Local businesses are bracing for the effect of the crackdown.

[b]"Oh yeah, it'll affect us," said Jeremiah, the owner of Around Town Landscaping in Phoenix who estimated that the cost of having a garden mowed will go up 15 to 20 percent in 2008 as a result.[b]

"We're going to lose some qualified guys, for sure. I'll keep my product the same, but it'll affect efficiency. It's a lack of foresight to think it wouldn't affect those things," added Jeremiah, who would not give his last name.

"It's not the right way to go. I don't think people did their homework on it, and no one consulted small companies on how they feel about it," he added.

Construction costs won't noticeably rise, said Julie Fenner, office manager of Hidden Valley Roofing in Phoenix. The company has always screened for proof of citizenship.

"To spread that over the cost of a roof, it's not going to happen," she said. "I can't see costs going up based on that."

Agriculture is expected to be among the industries hardest hit by the new law. Yuma needs about 50,000 pickers during lettuce harvest. Only half that number lives on the American side of the border. bPickers now earn 12 to 14 dollars per hour, said Dawn McLaren, an Arizona State University research economist.

Their wages could rise to 20 dollars per hour.

As more and more farms move south of the border to avoid high production costs, food may have to be imported on a weak dollar, making groceries more expensive.

"If we can't find labor here at a reasonable cost to business, businesses can simply move their business elsewhere," McLaren said. "We may see the cost of having to import stuff."

One Arizona grower recently decided to buy a farm in Iowa instead of investing in his Arizona operations, said Joe Sigg, director of government relations for the Arizona Farm Bureau.

"Banks will start looking at credit risks," Sigg said. "It's going to be more of an economic cloud on Arizona than the cost of a head of lettuce will be. Any prospectus for investors will have to have a flashing sign around it saying, This business may lose its LLC.' I think the investment community will chill on Arizona as well."

Uncertainty about what will happen is as big an issue as anything, Gans said. "We'll see," she said. "Arizona has certainly put itself on the line."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071230/ts ... omyarizona

Pretty good money for picking lettuce..The greedy dsfsdafds just don't get it do they. IF they cant afford to be in business with out paying a American a decent wage. they shouldn't be in business in the first place. If you cannot run a business without slave labor, you shouldn't have a business.

"experts predicting the move may cost the state's economy billions of dollars in lost income and taxes."

And billions in savings from paying out bennys , crime , welfare, schooling
and all the rest

We've heard this before

"Who will pick the cotton if we free the slaves"?

Well , the slaves got freed and the cotton still got picked

When are they going to get as tired of writing this tripe as we are of reading it????

BUSINESSES WILL CHARGE WHAT THE MARKET WILL BEAR, JUST LIKE THEY ALWAYS HAVE.....REGARDLESS OF PAYROLL COST. LOW PAYROLL COST JUST PUTS MORE MONEY IN THE CORPORATE POCKET AND IS NOT PASSED ON TO CONSUMERS ANYWAY.

And there are still idiots out there that will say "Now the price of lettuce will go up!" I run into these idiots all the time!

Originally Posted by Molly

And there are still idiots out there that will say "Now the price of lettuce will go up!" I run into these idiots all the time!

Even if they paid $16 hour a head of lettuce wouldn't go up that much

And you might find some Americans that would work for that , Of course our jails are full of criminals that would probably be glad to get out and do in
much cheaper ,

Let the farmers pay a fair wage to the state who will use it for
prisoner upkeep , restitution to crime victims and a small wage to the
prisoners doing the work

You can solve a whole lot of problems at once

But of course the libs would cry bloody murder and also it would make sense

Thats why it won't be done