Don't you think illegals are hearing the death knell, for their STOLEN American dream?
As crackdowns spread, job options may dwindle
Daniel González
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 4, 2007 12:00 AM
Sergio Arellanes was back on the job Tuesday, pouring cement for a new home in Ahwatukee in the scorching heat.
But he and other undocumented immigrants spent the day contemplating their fate in Arizona after the governor signed a bill that could put companies out of businesses for hiring them.
News of the law, believed to be the toughest of its kind in the country, sent a shock wave through the immigrant community. It spread far and fast as illegal immigrants braced for the possibility that they may soon lose their jobs if skittish employers begin culling workers wholesale rather than facing the possibility of losing their business licenses, the penalty for a second offense under the measure. advertisement
Instead of waiting for that to happen, Arellanes said, he is considering moving to look for work where the climate toward undocumented immigrants is less hostile. Others said they planned to wait and see how the law pans out, then decide whether to stay.
"I'm thinking of going to another state, maybe Nevada or Colorado. I don't know," said Arellanes, 22, who is from Chihuahua, Mexico, and has been living illegally in Arizona for three years.
Arellanes may not find the welcome mat he is expecting. Other states are expected to follow Arizona's lead in passing employer-sanctions laws or other bills to clamp down on illegal immigration out of frustration with Congress' failure to solve the problem.
Colorado already passed a bill that requires employers to verify the legal status of workers. As a result, labor shortages in some industries that rely on immigrant workers were worsened this year, prompting officials in Colorado to contract with prison inmates to pick crops in some areas.
Elias Bermudez, president of the group Immigrants Without Borders, said his Tuesday morning radio show was flooded with calls from illegal immigrants worried about losing their jobs.
"A lot of people are planning to leave," Bermudez said. "A lot of businesses are in danger of shutting down."
In response to the law, his organization began telling illegal immigrants, who number about 500,000 in Arizona, not to spend money except on essentials. The organization is also considering launching a work stoppage after Labor Day if the law is still intact then. Gov. Janet Napolitano has suggested that the state Legislature hold a special session to amend flaws in the measure.
"We only have economic power. We don't have political power," Bermudez said.
That economic influence also could extend to the state's already fragile real estate market. Many long-time illegal residents own their own homes. If they decide to sell and move on, their houses will add to the record 52,000 existing homes for sale Valley-wide.
Based on a normal monthly resale pace of about 5,000, metro Phoenix now has 12-month supply of homes for sale. A healthy housing market has a four- to six-month supply.
If even 1 percent of Arizona's undocumented workers owned homes and then tried to sell them, it would add at least another month to the housing market's oversupply of homes for sale and extend the slowdown by at least that much.
Adrian Holguin, supervisor of the cement crew in Ahwatukee, predicted the new law will worsen labor shortages in Arizona.
To make his point, Holguin walked from his pickup truck down into a large trench. A four-man crew was laying the footings for the basement of a custom home.
"It's 120 degrees down here, easy," Holguin said. "And there's no breeze. This is hard work. Who is going to do it if we leave?"
Sweat dripped down the workers' faces.
Holguin said his company is short five workers because finding enough people is a constant struggle. Cement workers start at $10 an hour, but the work is grueling, he said.
"It's now almost 4 p.m. These guys have been out here since 5 a.m.," said Holguin, an undocumented immigrant from Chihuahua.
Holguin said the cement company employs 20 workers. All but five are undocumented.
"The same goes for other companies," he said. "At some, every single one of their workers is undocumented."
Jose, 38, one of the crew members, said he is waiting to see how the employer-sanctions law pans out before deciding whether to remain in Arizona.
An undocumented immigrant, he asked that his last name not be used out of fear of losing his job.
Jose, who is from Hermosillo, Sonora, said a brother-in-law decided to put his house on the market and return to Mexico with his family immediately after learning the governor signed the employer-sanctions bill.
The law, along with other attempts to crack down on illegal immigration in Arizona, including police arresting undocumented immigrants and stepped-up deportations, had become too much to bear, he said.
"Undocumented immigrants are feeling a lot of pressure in this state," Jose said.
Answer:
Yes, they are. I saw an article that illegals were leaving Georgia as Georgia's new laws went into effect.
I still truly do not understand why they ASSUME we must accept their illegality. Their illegality denies them a political voice, and it should.
I support legal immigrants. I have no respect for those who disrespect our laws. I have no respect for their employers.
Bottom line is...the employers are simply saving money hiring them instead of paying Americans a decent wage.
Good news!
no.. I don't anticipate seeing a mad rush back across the border any more than I expect to see you ever edit out those advertisements before you cut and paste.
What? This doesn't mean much. It means one state will have less illegal immigrants and the other states will have a few more. It'll only have an impact when all 50 states set harsh laws like Arizona.
Not really - but I think they are beginning to realize that they can no longer play the game as casually as they once could - the "we once owned America", "we are all people - illegal or not", "we help the economy grow!" arguments no longer have the automatic validity they once had, and this is creating a small amount of fear, yes.
We have scored a great victory for the USA by defeating the Shamnesty bill in the Senate, but the battle must go on. If a Democrat is elected President, and more Dems are elected to Congress, then they will give amnesty to illegals as one of their first legislative acts. Therefore, it is imperative that we elect a Repub president, and that we take the Senate from the Dems and the traitor, Harry Reid.
Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, and maybe Mitt Romney are acceptable candidates for those who want to see our borders secured, the border fence built, and the immigration laws of the USA enforced! Let's elect one of them as our next president.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Although you and others of your ilk may continue to attempt to steal the American dream from our immigrants, the attempt will not be successful because they are so determined and such hard workers that they have made themselves a real asset to this country.
Hooray! It may be finally getting through to them that they are not really wanted or needed and I've said all along that the convicts should be doing the grueling work, prison isn't a free ride to work out. They'd be too tired to kill each other after a while. They could do road work, farm work and lots of other things and still be monitored effectively! As far as their stolen American dream, it was a mythological as Aztlan itself!
I'm for it. It'll be a great day when ALL states follow in step.
American business owners need to step up, hire American citizens, and not be so friggin' cheap!
ILLEGAL immigrants need to stop making excuses, and follow through with the process of BECOMING a U.S. citizen and EARN the right to work here.
refugiotrans: Nobody is trying to STEAL away the "American dream" from immigrants. Immigration is very much a part of what has built this country to what it is.
ILLEGAL immigrants want it handed over to them. They want to have the job, home, money, security, and benefits of being an American, but don't want to have to put in the time and effort and studying that it takes to EARN those benefits. They would rather complain that it's too hard, and that it takes too long. Meanwhile, MILLIONS of other immigrants from every country in the world go through the EXACT SAME PROCESS. What makes one immigrant more deserving than another to be able to skip right through, while another is earning their citizenship?
Ms.L.A.: I am T O T A L L Y in agreement with you as far as making the convicts put in the maual labor, but that's a whole other Oprah show.
I think that to say immigrants are not wanted or needed is a bit more like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Again... Immigrants make up this entire country. It's more a matter of how we control our borders, AND enforce the laws regarding the cheap employers who are knowingly breaking the law to avoid paying Americans legal wages.
OH... And P.S...
Most illegals are getting paid BELOW minimum wage. Do you realize that by becoming a citizen they could get a job that pays AT LEAST minimum wage, PLUS have medical benefits, PLUS not have to worry about the issue of being discovered and deported? If you really are so conserned about the "rights of illegals," encourage them to become a citizen!
Regards,
Rock E. Horror
If only it was true, the amnesty supporters are going to file briefs to stop those laws from being enacted
This is good to hear!
It will be struck down. It is unConstitutional. Only the Federal Government can make and enforce immigration laws.
Immigration reform is dead. It died with the failed bill last week.
I am glad that finally someone is taking the innitiative to do something about a problem that has gotten out of control,all because we have in Washington a group of representatives that have been neutered by interest groups,as americans we should all scream loud for our government to stop making excuses and give us our country back
Yes since the Gov is not doing it the local Gov is great news.
Maybe it will spread.
Well this is good news, we need more states to step up to the plate
This story, published by ARIZONA'S QUESTIONABLE DOCUMENTATION OF RECORD, seems to just "out" two illegal aliens by name.
I wonder if one of the illegal aliens from that story is same one that comes up on an online Maricopa Assessor parcel search.
I also wonder if the story would be enough evidence for ICE to investigate the apparent self-declared illegal alien employer, who also confessed to hiring a crew of mostly illegal aliens, under current local, state and/or federal law? If so, ICE might have a good place to start. Maricopa County would also have an excellent place to start to see if the truck mentioned in the story, is one used to transport the illegal crew, which would violate Az's human smuggling law.
ARS § 13-2319 - "Smuggling of human beings" means the transportation or procurement of transportation by a person or an entity that knows or has reason to know that the person or persons transported or to be transported are not United States citizens, permanent resident aliens or persons otherwise lawfully in this state.
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In short, they should start digging out their old 'coyote' supplied maps and start planning that trip home now.
The Immigration information post by website user , MyTend.com not guarantee correctness.
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