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Posted on 08/27/2007 4:57:42 PM PDT by greyfoxx39
Yesterday's Arizona Republic reported on an interesting phenomenon taking place as a new workplace identification law approaches implementation. Those workers with no documentation -- in other words, illegal aliens -- have begun to sell off their property and leave the state:
Undocumented immigrants are starting to leave Arizona because of the new employer-sanctions law. The state's strong economy has been a magnet for illegal immigrants for years. But a growing number are pulling up stakes out of fear they will be jobless come Jan. 1, when the law takes effect. The departures are drawing cheers from immigration hard-liners and alarm from business owners already seeing a drop in sales.
It's impossible to count how many undocumented immigrants have fled because of the new law. But based on interviews with undocumented immigrants, immigrant advocates, community leaders and real-estate agents, at least several hundred have left since Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano signed the bill on July 2. There are an estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona.
Some are moving to other states, where they think they will have an easier time getting jobs. Others are returning to Mexico, selling their effects and putting their houses on the market.
The number departing is expected to mushroom as the Jan. 1 deadline draws closer. After that, the law will require employers to verify the employment eligibility of their workers through a federal database.
The immigration hard-liners appear to have proven one of their main arguments. Illegal immigrants who face a loss of employment due to strict employer sanctions will move elsewhere, and rather quickly. One talk-radio host that caters to what the Republic calls "undocumented immigrants" estimates that the departure rate has already hit 100 per day. It will likely increase until most of them depart before the end of the year, when their jobs will disappear.
Arizona passed employer sanctions with a particular bite. Rather than set up an escalating series of fines, which has been the federal approach, the state opted to put employers out of business. A first offense gets a ten-day suspension of the firm's business license, which would close the doors during that period. A subsequent offense revokes the business license permanently. Needless to say, that has provided an incentive to business owners to start checking identities through the federal database and terminating anyone who doesn't clear the system.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce heads a coalition that wants the law repealed based on a Constitutional challenge, but it's hard to see how they can succeed. The state can impose sanctions on business licenses it issues, and it can insist that employers check for worker eligibility. The real issue for the ACC is labor shortages. The state currently has an unemployment rate of 3.7%, statistically full employment. Arizona employers will have to raise wages to compete for workers, which will cost consumers more but allow for more money in the market as well. It also might prompt business to push for automation where possible, using technology to fill the gaps.
However, the state does have around 9% of its workforce comprised by illegals. They rent houses and apartments, shop for food, and consume just like anyone else does in Arizona. When they disappear, the state will undoubtedly suffer a hit to the economy, especially in housing, which could depress real-estate values in some areas. Some of the immigrants own houses, and they have to sell them fast, which has glutted the resale market in the state. Secondary markets like furniture and home improvement have slowed considerably in Arizona, too.
Proponents of federalism often refer to states as laboratories for political experiments. Arizona's efforts on employer sanctions will prove an interesting test case for employer-based immigration sanctions.
“Refinancing the homes, taking the cash, and returning to Mexico, leaving the bank stuck with the mortgages? Oh no!”
Boy, I never saw that coming.
Who needs buses and trains when they leave when the laws are enforced.
>Refinancing the homes, taking the cash, and returning to Mexico, leaving the bank stuck with the mortgages? Oh no!<
They sure picked the wrong time to be refinancing. No tears from me.
Similar reports have come from Oklahoma and Georgia, both of which passed strong anti-illegal legislation recently.
Laws do work.
I wonder how many will be Bank of America mortgages.
Poetic justice
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I'm trying hard to feel sorry for these lenders/investors.
*grunt*
Can't do it.
I’m waiting for the CHP to stop giving speeding tickets because they clearly can’t catch everybody.
This article made me smile.
I love it. I hope the fever continues to catch on.
That's the way it should be.
This is some welcome news. Hopefully, the beginning of a trend.
While some businesses may complain at first, the net result will in a longer time frame be (1) more jobs-at-living-wages offered, (2)price reductions for all things local - housing included - for everyone who remains, which taken together will in time comprise part of local economic recovery.
Maybe some lower-middle class high-school kids will actually be able to save for college on lawn-care, fast food, newspaper delivery and grocery store work, in their teens, as I did. No one offers those jobs to teens as often now when legal and illegal immigrants are willing to fill all those jobs at less-than minimum wages and without the constraints of school-attending-teens available hours.
As a teen, I had a set of year-round lawn-care customers, a morning or evening paper route and worked at available hours at grocery stores and fast-food locations (pre-McDonalds). Most anywhere I go in the U.S. today, every one of those jobs are filled by an adult Hispanic immigrant (legal or illegal), while lower middle class families have a hard time making ends meet.
Well, my parents always had a hard time making ends meet too (eight kids and on military pay for most years), but I was able to compensate (always bought my own clothes, had my own spending money, bought a new bicycle on a regular bank loan and saved some) and never knew we were “poor”.
Both the work opportunities for teens and family ethics for teens to work are greatly diminished today. Ending excessive immigration at the low-skilled level can help reverse those trends, and financially help lower middle class families, by creating more demand and opportunities for employable teens.
Watch, that is exactly what happens and the liberals will start yelling that we need to boost immigration again - because teens are being “over-worked”.
Faster, faster . . .
That’s the ticket. Put the burden and cost entirely on the businesses. Dems love this program, because they don’t want to build The Fence.
There’s another big questions not addressed. How the hell did they get houses financed? How are they processing papers with tax assessors? How can they set up accounts with with utility companies?
Never mind. We all know how.
Can someone put that in Spanish?
I’ll bet the ones from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other ME countries, that came here illegally, won’t be leaving until their dirty work is done. What do you bet?
¡Atención inmigrantes ilegales!
El tuyo
El nuestros
El suyo
¿Preguntas?
Could be a little off, I used BabelFish.
That's a crock if I ever heard one.
The anti-ILLEGAL crowd cares very much about our economy. Think of all the tax money that will be freed up as we stop paying for illegals FREE health care and education, and welfare and food stamps.
Think of all the rapes, the drunk driving killings, the police murders that will go down.
What some people don't realize is that there's much more to be gained that has no $$$$$$ value. The economy will be OK. People will manage. And we'll all be a lot safer.
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