No Evidence Workers Leaving U.S

The Sacramento Bee ^ | Jan. 15, 2009 | Susan Ferriss

[kellynla]

Flor Gutierrez has a bird's eye view of how immigrants – 37 percent of California's labor force – are reacting so far to a punishing recession.

She runs El Mercadito Latino in Elk Grove, where Mexicans and Central Americans shop and wire money to family back in their home countries. In December, she said, customers wired the same amount of money as they always have during a holiday month. But Gutierrez is bracing for a plunge.

"They definitely are buying less for themselves," she said. "We may see people getting by with less here, so they can continue to help out those back home who are even worse off."

Gutierrez's observations mirror what researchers at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think tank, describe in a report issued Wednesday.

"Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis" reviews statistical research and other information and concludes that there is no hard evidence of illegal or legal immigrants leaving in droves because jobs have dried up.

In addition to agriculture, immigrants are concentrated in construction, manufacturing and services, industries that have been battered by the downturn.

No doubt, tough times have already prompted some to leave U.S. soil and produced a "flattening" in the estimated number of illegal immigrants entering to seek jobs since 2007, said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, which studies U.S. and global migration trends and policies.

But home countries, especially those tightly linked to the U.S. economy, such as Mexico and those in Central America, are not hospitable places to search for work, either.

Drug trafficking violence and crime in Mexico are disincentives to returning, as is immigrants' strong sense of responsibility to provide for family, the report says.

[nbhunt]

They can’t swim to Spain

[dennisw]

Why should they? Obamanation’s handouts are just around the corner.

We'll be paying up the wazoo for their kid's health care and then the adults too
No way 0bomb will keep illegals off of "free" gubbermint health care 0bammy and Daschle engineer

[dennisw]

Sudacas? Had to look that one up

[Ev Reeman]

I wish new immigrants to our country would go through the process and procedure as put forth by our immigration laws just because it is the right thing to do. In other words wait your turn like the others on the list before you and ahead of you. I think we should start nationally enforcing all of our federal immigration laws. I think we should penalize and fine any and all businesses that hire illegal immigrants. One reason why so many states are going bankrupt is because there are programs in place that provide benefits assistance and freebies to illegal immigrants when these selfsame things are not even provided to legal American citizens! And now with the new administration coming in there is a even greater danger of a blanket amnesty which will only encourage more illegal immigration instead of ending it for good. Mexico us falling apart because for far too long they have allowed widespread political corruption from top to bottom and stood by while drug cartels are killing murdering and slaughtering multitudes of innocent people. The madness must end and Mexico must get its act together NOW!

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Oklahoma started it and it was all over the news about the mass exodus from Ok.

Once California and Texas clamp down it's game over for illegals. There's no place left to go but home.

[bilhosty]

They are finally leaving the Atlanta area. I have lived in this complex since 1993. It became in recent years heavy Mexican. The sign in front in fact said “acceptamos Tax Id’s”. In the last year they suddenly started renting to blacks. the manager said the Mexicans are going home due to immigration crack downs. Apparently the Mexicans who run the place they didnt rent to blacks until they had to.