T
Taylor
Guest
Illegal immigrants, facing new law cracking down on employers, are going
home
Arizona's new employer-sanctions law takes effect January 1
Law an attempt to lessen the economic incentive for illegal immigrants
"I don't want to live here because of the new law and oppressive
environment"
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- 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.
Border Patrol officers in Phoenix, Arizona, check a bus depot for illegal
immigrants in June 2006.
1 of 2 For months, immigrants have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward
the state's new employer-sanctions law, which takes effect January 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," said Magdalena Schwartz, an
immigrant-rights activist and pastor at a Mesa church. "They don't want to
live in fear, in terror."
Martin Herrera, a 40-year-old illegal immigrant and masonry worker who lives
in Camp Verde, 70 miles north of Phoenix, said he is planning to return to
Mexico as soon as he ties up loose ends after living here for four years.
"I don't want to live here because of the new law and the oppressive
environment," he said. "I'll be better in my country."
He called the employer-sanctions law "absurd."
"Everybody here, legally or illegally, we are part of a motor that makes
this country run," Herrera said. "Once we leave, the motor is going to start
to slow down."
There's no way to know how many illegal immigrants are leaving Arizona,
especially now with many returning home for normal holiday visits. But
economists, immigration lawyers and people who work in the immigrant
community agree it's happening.
State Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the author of the employer sanctions law,
said his intent was to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona.
"I'm hoping they will self-deport," Pearce said. "They broke the law.
They're criminals."
Under the employer sanctions law, businesses found to have knowingly hired
illegal workers will be subject to sanctions from probation to a 10-day
suspension of their business licenses. A second violation would bring
permanent revocation of the license.
Nancy-Jo Merritt, an immigration lawyer who primarily represents employers,
said her clients already have started to fire workers who can't prove they
are in the country legally.
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"Workers are being fired, of course," she said. "Nobody wants to find out
later on that they've got somebody working for them who's not here legally."
When immigrants don't have jobs, they don't stick around, said Dawn McLaren,
a research economist at Arizona State University who specializes in illegal
immigration.
She said the flagging economy, particularly in the construction industry,
also is contributing to an immigrant exodus.
"As the jobs dwindle and the environment becomes more unpleasant in more
ways than one, you then decide what to do, and perhaps leaving looks like a
good idea," she said. "And certainly that creates a problem, because as
people leave, they take the jobs they created with them."
Pearce disagreed that the Arizona economy will suffer after illegal
immigrants leave, saying there will be less crime, lower taxes, less
congestion, smaller classroom sizes and shorter lines in emergency rooms.
"We have a free market. It'll adjust," he said. "Americans will be much
better off."
He said he's not surprised illegal immigrants are leaving the state and
predicts that more will go once the employer-sanctions law takes effect next
month.
"It's attrition by enforcement," he said. "As you make this an unfriendly
state for lawbreakers, I'm hoping they will pick up and leave."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/22/immigrants.leave.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
home
Arizona's new employer-sanctions law takes effect January 1
Law an attempt to lessen the economic incentive for illegal immigrants
"I don't want to live here because of the new law and oppressive
environment"
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- 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.
Border Patrol officers in Phoenix, Arizona, check a bus depot for illegal
immigrants in June 2006.
1 of 2 For months, immigrants have taken a wait-and-see attitude toward
the state's new employer-sanctions law, which takes effect January 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," said Magdalena Schwartz, an
immigrant-rights activist and pastor at a Mesa church. "They don't want to
live in fear, in terror."
Martin Herrera, a 40-year-old illegal immigrant and masonry worker who lives
in Camp Verde, 70 miles north of Phoenix, said he is planning to return to
Mexico as soon as he ties up loose ends after living here for four years.
"I don't want to live here because of the new law and the oppressive
environment," he said. "I'll be better in my country."
He called the employer-sanctions law "absurd."
"Everybody here, legally or illegally, we are part of a motor that makes
this country run," Herrera said. "Once we leave, the motor is going to start
to slow down."
There's no way to know how many illegal immigrants are leaving Arizona,
especially now with many returning home for normal holiday visits. But
economists, immigration lawyers and people who work in the immigrant
community agree it's happening.
State Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the author of the employer sanctions law,
said his intent was to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona.
"I'm hoping they will self-deport," Pearce said. "They broke the law.
They're criminals."
Under the employer sanctions law, businesses found to have knowingly hired
illegal workers will be subject to sanctions from probation to a 10-day
suspension of their business licenses. A second violation would bring
permanent revocation of the license.
Nancy-Jo Merritt, an immigration lawyer who primarily represents employers,
said her clients already have started to fire workers who can't prove they
are in the country legally.
Don't Miss
'Green card marriage' ad nets arrest
Romney fires landscapers
"Workers are being fired, of course," she said. "Nobody wants to find out
later on that they've got somebody working for them who's not here legally."
When immigrants don't have jobs, they don't stick around, said Dawn McLaren,
a research economist at Arizona State University who specializes in illegal
immigration.
She said the flagging economy, particularly in the construction industry,
also is contributing to an immigrant exodus.
"As the jobs dwindle and the environment becomes more unpleasant in more
ways than one, you then decide what to do, and perhaps leaving looks like a
good idea," she said. "And certainly that creates a problem, because as
people leave, they take the jobs they created with them."
Pearce disagreed that the Arizona economy will suffer after illegal
immigrants leave, saying there will be less crime, lower taxes, less
congestion, smaller classroom sizes and shorter lines in emergency rooms.
"We have a free market. It'll adjust," he said. "Americans will be much
better off."
He said he's not surprised illegal immigrants are leaving the state and
predicts that more will go once the employer-sanctions law takes effect next
month.
"It's attrition by enforcement," he said. "As you make this an unfriendly
state for lawbreakers, I'm hoping they will pick up and leave."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/22/immigrants.leave.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
