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Illegals Begin Leaving Arizona as New Law Approaches
Friday, February 08, 2008
AGIA PRIETA, Mexico - For the first time, Mexican officials in Arizona
admit there is hard evidence illegal immigrants are preparing to leave the
state because a new employer sanctions law is making it difficult, if not
impossible, for them to keep a job.
Illegal immigrants are flooding the Mexican consulate in Phoenix for
documents that will allow them to return to Mexico to enroll their children
in school, the consul to Arizona, Carlos Flores Vizcarra, told FOX News.
They are also requesting a document called "menaje de casa," which allows
illegal immigrant families living in the U.S. to cross into Mexico without
paying a tax on their furniture and personal belongings.
Vizcarra said 94 families asked the embassy for students transfer documents
last month, compared to only three last year. He said several thousand
immigrants asked for the tax document.
In a separate interview, Edmundo Hidalgo of the non-profit immigrant support
group Chicanos Por La Causa, said 30,000 illegal immigrants said in a survey
last week that they planned to leave Arizona sometime before March 1, when
the state's tough new employer sanctions law goes into effect. Under the
law, employers can lose their business licenses if they hire undocumented
workers.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has set up a hotline for citizens to
report on employers who hire illegals. He has said enforcement will begin
when the law goes into effect. Many deputies have also been given arrest
authority by Customs and Border Protection to enforce federal immigration
law. So in the course of a traffic stop, illegal immigrants without a
driver's license could ultimately face deportation.
These factors, combined with a slowing economy, are forcing many
undocumented workers to consider leaving Arizona. According to a study last
year, 12 percent of Arizona's workforce is in the U.S. illegally, the
highest percentage in the nation.
At a immigrant shelter in Agua Prieta, Mexico, just south of the Arizona
border, officials say illegal immigrants are leaving the Grand Canyon state
because of the employer sanctions law.
In the last month, for every five immigrants trying to enter the U.S., four
were crossing back in the other direction, said Rosa Soto Moreno, who runs a
Catholic shelter that provides food and lodging for illegal immigrants.
Soto said illegal immigrants crossing back into Mexico is a new phenomenon,
and she attributes it to the new law.
"Many of the supervisors are upset by the law, but have told their workers
they have no choice," she said.
Illegals Begin Leaving Arizona as New Law Approaches
Friday, February 08, 2008
AGIA PRIETA, Mexico - For the first time, Mexican officials in Arizona
admit there is hard evidence illegal immigrants are preparing to leave the
state because a new employer sanctions law is making it difficult, if not
impossible, for them to keep a job.
Illegal immigrants are flooding the Mexican consulate in Phoenix for
documents that will allow them to return to Mexico to enroll their children
in school, the consul to Arizona, Carlos Flores Vizcarra, told FOX News.
They are also requesting a document called "menaje de casa," which allows
illegal immigrant families living in the U.S. to cross into Mexico without
paying a tax on their furniture and personal belongings.
Vizcarra said 94 families asked the embassy for students transfer documents
last month, compared to only three last year. He said several thousand
immigrants asked for the tax document.
In a separate interview, Edmundo Hidalgo of the non-profit immigrant support
group Chicanos Por La Causa, said 30,000 illegal immigrants said in a survey
last week that they planned to leave Arizona sometime before March 1, when
the state's tough new employer sanctions law goes into effect. Under the
law, employers can lose their business licenses if they hire undocumented
workers.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has set up a hotline for citizens to
report on employers who hire illegals. He has said enforcement will begin
when the law goes into effect. Many deputies have also been given arrest
authority by Customs and Border Protection to enforce federal immigration
law. So in the course of a traffic stop, illegal immigrants without a
driver's license could ultimately face deportation.
These factors, combined with a slowing economy, are forcing many
undocumented workers to consider leaving Arizona. According to a study last
year, 12 percent of Arizona's workforce is in the U.S. illegally, the
highest percentage in the nation.
At a immigrant shelter in Agua Prieta, Mexico, just south of the Arizona
border, officials say illegal immigrants are leaving the Grand Canyon state
because of the employer sanctions law.
In the last month, for every five immigrants trying to enter the U.S., four
were crossing back in the other direction, said Rosa Soto Moreno, who runs a
Catholic shelter that provides food and lodging for illegal immigrants.
Soto said illegal immigrants crossing back into Mexico is a new phenomenon,
and she attributes it to the new law.
"Many of the supervisors are upset by the law, but have told their workers
they have no choice," she said.
