California Conservative

After Arizona passed some laws with tough employer restrictions in them, it appears that those laws are working. Here’s what the AP wrote about the new laws:

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.

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.”

While Mr. Herrera thinks that the employer-sanctions law is absurd, I’d bet that most Americans think it’s a great solution to the immigration crisis. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just what the doctor ordered. Barbara Banaian recently wrote a column in the St. Cloud Times that sums things up perfectly, saying:

A country that cannot define who its citizens are ceases to be a country.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration seemed disinterested in defining and identifying its citizens. Mr. Herrera is sadly mistaken when he says that “the motor is going to start to slow” once illegal immigrants leave. We’ll just make up for things by bringing in people on work visas instead of hiring illegal immigrants. It’ll be a tiny adjustment.

This proves the folly of the Grand Bargain. All that was was amnesty because its key provision was in giving lawbreakers a path to citizenship. This also proves that taking a hardline approach to illegal immigration was the right path.

Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke keep talking about how taking this hardline position with illegal immigration will hurt the GOP longterm. They repeatedly said that there has to be a pathway to citizenship because that’s the only way to deal with all of the illegal immigrants already here. This AP article refutes both opinions, especially since a Democratic governor signed these employer sanctions into law. Dry up the jobs and the social net benefits and you give illegal immigrants no reason to come here or stay here.

Here’s something that I’d love hearing King’s opinion on:

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.”

As more states sign laws that fine employers for hiring illegal immigrants, more illegal immigrants will return home. One fear I do have is that some of the more liberal states won’t enact tougher laws. Here in Minnesota, we have an ultra-liberal legislature. The chances of passing something carrying substantial fines will be almost nothing. I suspect that states like New York and Vermont won’t enact tougher laws, either.

At that point, the only hope for this spreading nationwide will be for Congress to pass legislation. That type of bill has little chance of passing the House because Ms. Pelosi won’t want to upset the Hispanic Caucus. Even if it got a committee hearing and made it to the Senate, which isn’t likely, Ted Kennedy and others would thwart it with a filibuster.

Nonetheless, I still want Republicans to force the issue. I want Democrats to have to defend their actions on the campaign trail all fall long.

Technorati Tags: Immigration, Law Enforcement, Fines, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2007 at 3:21 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Election 2008, Immigration, Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.