Michelle Malkin » L.A. Times explains how well illegal immigration enforcement worked in Arizona, and how awful that is for America

L.A. Times explains how well illegal immigration enforcement worked in Arizona, and how awful that is for America

By see-dubya • April 5, 2008 01:52 PM

(Guest post by See-Dubya)

There are some amazing admissions in this article if you wade through the sob stories.

Pearce says the overall effect has been undeniably positive for Arizona. “Smaller class sizes, shorter emergency room waits,” he said. “Even if [illegal immigrants] are paying taxes — and most of them aren’t — the cost to taxpayers is huge.”

The biggest effect has come from the new employer sanctions law, which took effect in January.

The law is fairly straightforward.

Any business caught hiring illegal immigrants is put on probation. If it is caught doing the same thing again, the state revokes its business license.

The only defense for an employer is if it used E-Verify, a federal pilot project to allow businesses to confirm the legality of their laborers.

One of the stories they tell makes a fair point–some naturalized citizens don’t get into the system quickly enough. That’s a problem but a fixable one.

The rest? Well, there’s a woman who was arrested for speeding and driving without a license and taken to the police station in a truck full of illegal immigrants. She claims she was racially profiled. Sounds to me like you should take your license with you when you drive in Maricopa County, and watch the speed limit. And there’s a mercado that catered to illegal workers, whose owner laments that his parking lot is no longer full. And then there’s poor Jorge Hernandez:

The law did what it was supposed to with Jorge Hernandez, a 32-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico. He had been working in a Phoenix tire shop for years when in December his bosses told him they’d have to let him go because of the new law. Now he struggles to support his family by working as a day laborer and is thinking of leaving.
…
Hernandez dreams of moving to New Mexico, where friends have told him the economy is stronger and sentiment against illegal immigrants weaker. “They don’t have E-Verify there,” he said in Spanish.

Also buried amidst the hand-wringing was this nugget, which is really the best. Hang on, swallow your coffee first:

No one knows how many immigrants have left the state, and the most recent government figures show Arizona growing robustly — as of July, Maricopa was the fastest-growing county in the nation.

But enough immigrants have left that the government of Sonora, the Mexican state bordering Arizona, has complained about how many people have arrived on its doorstep.

I’m going to type that last sentence again, just so you can laugh at it once more:

…enough immigrants have left that the government of Sonora, the Mexican state bordering Arizona, has complained about how many people have arrived on its doorstep.

Dude, that’s twenty-four karat comedy gold.

Back to E-Verify: this hand-wringing reminds me of an op-ed this past summer in the Wall Street Journal by an economist about how we have to stop Federal no-match programs (like e-verify), because they would work too well:

The new no-match program may not catch everybody, but it has the potential to impact the employment of three to four million undocumented workers. With such workers concentrated in just a few big states — California, Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona and Illinois — the regional impact of the program could be substantial.

Border enforcement keeps some immigrants out, but since it does nothing to remove the jobs magnet pulling workers here, it actually raises the rewards for those who make it in, encouraging more illegal immigration. Fears of no-match letters reflect a simple reality — this could work.

_________________________________________

Last thought: with all three Presidential candidates supporting some flavor of amnesty, and a Congress unlikely to get more conservative on this issue, I’ll bet we see a lot more of these state-level enforcement initiatives–like Arizona’s and Oklahoma’s. Let’s hope programs like E-Verify keep being developed and funded so these states will be able to make their employer enforcement work. As in the case of Jorge Hernandez above, it’s really simple and humane, and it doesn’t even require arresting anyone. Can’t get a job, you move along to where you can–to New Mexico.

~ For the latest breaking news, be sure to join Michelle's e-mail list ~

Posted in: Employer Sanctions,Immigration,Southern Border

Printer Friendly

comments (47)

See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

Comments

#1

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:00 pm, terrig said:

Well, I live in PWC, VA, and it’s worked great here too. Now my friends in Fairfax County and Bowie, Maryland, are complaining about the sudden influx of illegals out of PWC to their areas. There were a few articles this past week in the Washington Times lamenting the lack of business at the places illegals tended to gather and how in certain areas of the county, rows of townhomes now stood empty because the illegals just left them. How in the world did they get those home loans in the first place-but we’ve been down that road before.
Unfortunately the three stooges (with apologies to Larry, Curly & Moe) want to let these “illegals” in and to vote as soon as possilbe. We owe these people who broke our laws nothing but they want and seem to get everything they whine about. They’ll get their shamnesty and the rest of us will still be called racists. Watching John Adams last night on the dvr I wondered what the Founding Fathers would think of this debacle.
#2

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:01 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

Can’t get a job, you move along to where you can–to New Mexico.

No, they’ll just keep coming to CA, and we’ll just keep raising taxes to support them.

Really too bad. This state used to be really nice to live in.
#3

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:02 pm, see-dubya said:

terrig–

Watching John Adams last night on the dvr I wondered what the Founding Fathers would think of this debacle.

What a great excuse to relink this.
#4

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:08 pm, rooster said:

Imagine that, verifying if you are legal to work in this country. I always had to provide my ssn to get a job, how and when did we stop doing that? Anybody?
#5

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm, ajmontana said:

rooster said:
Imagine that, verifying if you are legal to work in this country. I always had to provide my ssn to get a job, how and when did we stop doing that? Anybody?

There using mine as well as desert lovers and millions of others…
#6

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm, corona said:

Correction: Illegal aliens are not exempt from sales taxes – yet another reason why the income tax should be replaced with a national sales tax.
#7

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:14 pm, terrig said:

see-dubya-thanks for the link. What interesting reading. This should be mandatory for our Congress and President to read (especially the 3 stooges, one which will ultimately live at 1600 Penn Ave).
#8

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:14 pm, rooster said:

BlameAmericaLast,

You said it, California used to be a neat, cool place, now it is chaos and taxes.

Haley Barber pledged here in Mississippi that illegals will get no benefits. We have them here, but I don’t think it is as attractive as New Mexico. Arevederchi amigo, don’t stop till you shake Bill Richardsons hand.
#9

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:36 pm, skma said:

Rooster – The buying and selling of social security numbers, birth certificates, and other forms of legal documentation is a booming business among illegals here in Maricopa County. Employers have illegals fill out the same hiring paperwork you’ve always filled out, but there’s a remarkable lack of verification. My husband worked briefly in HR at a local plant, and he was amazed by the blatant forgeries/altered copies of documents that passed muster there.
#10

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:53 pm, rooster said:

I worked for UPS in Germany when I was stationed there. In order to work, you have to register with the police and city hall. If you don’t have permission to be in their country, you don’t work and are ineligilbe for all the socialist benefits of a european country.

Very simple and employers who don’t pay taxes by hiring illegals are treated as criminals and dealt with severely.

Tax crimes in Germany are usually dealt with more severe than capital crimes.
#11

On April 5th, 2008 at 2:57 pm, nyc123me said:

Good post. Unfortunately it seems we will have Federal-level amnesty in the near future, like it or not, which means state-level programs will no longer exist. Boy are the Govt in for a big surprise when they find just how much more in benefits they will have to pay once these illegals become legal. You think we’re heading into recession now? This is the calm before the storm. Barring a miracle, economic ruin for the US is just around the corner, except for the elite few.. sounds a lot like Russia. And then there’s the looming social security bankruptcy on top…
#12

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:01 pm, BOB said:

I’m retired and living in the “sanctuary state” of Arkansas.

Moving to Arizona or Oklahoma looks better every day.
#13

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:05 pm, in_awe said:

California is becoming ungovernable as we now have an institutionalized $10-$20B annual state deficit. With public unions (teachers, state prison guards, and state bureaucratic workers) nixing any control on wages or non-performing programs and 40% of all taxes constitutionally mandated to going to the schools.

Yet, with all the hoopla about balancing the budget – not once has anyone in Sacramento mentioned the $10B annual cost of illegals to the taxpayers of the state. It is like they aren’t even a factor. The Governor talks about a 10% across the board reduction in spending by all state agencies and people howl. But nobody even suggests that millions of illegals here are a major source of the deficit. The only talk by the Dems is about how the people are paying too little in taxes. (The CA budget has grown over 35% in 4 years.)

The chances of the Democrats in charge of our legislation following AZ’s lead in making the employment of an illegal a crime is zero. We are screwed in CA as illegals from AZ head west.
#14

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:10 pm, old trooper said:

If the Maverick beats his defeatist socialist anti-American foes in November and tells Juan Hernandez to go home, Joe Arpaio needs to head up DHS as a start point to restore America for Americans to preserve respect for Law, the Constitution and quality of Life here.

Otherwise things will be circling the bowl here. Years of neglect are going to kill the economy and make citizenship worthless.
#15

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm, josetheguerilla said:

Any business caught hiring illegal immigrants is put on probation. If it is caught doing the same thing again, the state revokes its business license.

Here lies the solution to our illegal alien problem. As soon as employer sanctions were taken seriously, the illegals started leaving. (relocating)
#16

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:15 pm, bit_boy said:

Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of L.A., fully a LaRaza supporter is part of the problem . A real target for federal law enforcement once we get back to being a nation of laws and a nation of law enforcement. All such government official that believe they are exempt from obeying the law are candidates for arrest, could happen but won’t. It would just take one, such as the arrest of the Mayor of Houston and Police Chief, or the Governor of Washington, or the Mayor of San Francisco, or the Mayor of Detroit, woops Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit is under a 14 count indictment. His indictment was not by the Attorney General so where are the brave federals to enforce the punishment of those elected official who aid and abet illegals.

Note: CW(see-dubya) could it be true Bush 43 does not believe in law enforcement.
#17

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:19 pm, Helene said:

Sorry, I can’t cry the blues for the illegals. In Maryland our taxes are going up, the services are going down, we’re bailing ($50,000,000) out a hospital overrun by illegals while the legislature is supporting a $1,000,000 project to help Casa de Maryland build a jobs center(?).
Amazing.
The only light in the tunnel is the leadership of John Leopold, County Executive in Anne Arundel County. He’s stopped them from gathering in the middle of busy roads to pimp for work. He’s now having the police contact ICE when they arrest illegals instead of letting them out on bail.
Now Casa de Maryland is crying the blues because people are being arrested for driving without licenses, driving with cracked windshield, etc.
Waaaaaa.
They call this “racial profiling.” I call it keeping the rest of us safe. (Imaging what would happen if the cracked windshield would blow up at 55 mph).
#18

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:22 pm, Sanddog said:

Uh….

Hernandez dreams of moving to New Mexico, where friends have told him the economy is stronger and sentiment against illegal immigrants weaker.

Actually, the economy isn’t stronger. They might like illegals in some areas but in the northern part of the state (except Santa Fe), there is no love lost for “Mexican nationals”. They take scarce jobs away from citizens and overload already burdened schools, hospitals and social services.

I’m sure the anglo moonbats in Santa Fe just adore illegals but the Hispanic population (many who can trace their roots back to the original Spanish land grants) would rather they just leave.
#19

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:33 pm, MNUSMCDavid said:

Minnesota? Meet Maricopa County! Whoo Hoo!
#20

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:52 pm, apacherat said:

There’s one draw back with a national sales tax. How do you tax the 23 billion dollar$ in remittance that Mexicans send back to there real home country every year ?

I wonder how much of that 23 billion has all ready been taxed ?
#21

On April 5th, 2008 at 3:53 pm, Craig said:

SWEEEEEEEEEEET. Thanks See-Dubya
#22

On April 5th, 2008 at 4:05 pm, brooklyn red said:

in_awe, re; #13 “California is becoming ungovernable…”

It is a sad state of affairs, indeed but perhaps totally necessary. We are a society in denial. For example most people don’t know/remember that the World Trade Center was attacked once before it was destroyed, it took an event of that magnitude to get people’s attention. And many are still in denial.

My guess is that until the State implodes & we need to take it back by force (if we have the will to do so) that most people won’t realize what is happening & get serious.

It won’t be too long till you hear SanFranNan brokering “land for peace” deals, well as long as it’s not her land anyway…
#23

On April 5th, 2008 at 4:23 pm, i b squidly said:

Some of the Phoenix school districts found 50% bogus SSNs among their non-teaching staffs.
#24

On April 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm, DesertLover said:

A little history on the AZ law …

First of all this was the 3rd attempt by the people of AZ to get something done … the first 2 were from petition drives and were voted on and passed easily … however … the illegal sympathizers legal teams got them stopped by the courts by citing flaws in the language of the petitions …

So … we went to work getting people elected to represent us in state government that agreed with the population and the current law came out of the legislature … and the public pressure was such that our open borders Obama supporting governor (D) had no choice but to sign it …

We must do the same thing this year at the polls in November … regardless of who the next president is (they are all amnesty granters) we must get people into the Senate and House that will stand up for us in the border wars and go against any amnesty attempts by the next White House … We must continue to give the states the chance to follow the lead of AZ and OK in this battle … More states passing laws to stop the illegals from staying and it will open the possibility of a similar law being passed at the Federal level … (I can still dream) …

I truly believe that if there was an option available on the the bottom of the presidential ballot this year to vote for “NONE OF THE ABOVE” it would win hands down …
#25

On April 5th, 2008 at 4:37 pm, brooklyn red said:

Ohhh, I got one… It takes a ~~village~~ state.

Not bad eh?
#26

On April 5th, 2008 at 4:55 pm, Christian Soldier said:

Does anyone remember prop. 187?

We won —-

The libral courts and our libral politicians determined that we LOST–

Prop.187 was ERASED!

We conservative Californians are a tough breed and will never give up – I hope!
#27

On April 5th, 2008 at 5:25 pm, brooklyn red said:

March on, Christian Soldier…
#28

On April 5th, 2008 at 5:39 pm, Boomer said:

We have the same whinny liberal slant on a recent raid in nearby Homedale, ID about the poor identity thieves coming from their families that should be on their way out of the country too.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-apr0408-illegal_immigrants.30e6eaf0.html

I am still very disappointed in our legislature for not pushing the same employment law that Arizona has passed letting it die in comity. Big agriculture gets its way again when it comes to their cheap labor.
#29

On April 5th, 2008 at 5:56 pm, Chief RZ said:

rooster. yes, really. I remember presenting an original SS card to my first employer before it was stolen by some urban “poor” person just trying to buy a loaf of bread. right! He got caught, but not punished. That is what is wrong in America today. The innocent are punished, and the evil criminals are let go. Not their fault, you know, no parents, disadvantaged and all, we need to “understand” them. right? WRONG.
#30

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm, ajmontana said:

If they put as much effort into coming here legally and obeying the laws as they do learning how to beat the system everyone would be better off.
#31

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm, orlandocajun said:

Mexifornia is a lost cause. They may as well make the whole state a sanctuary. Then, maybe all illegal aliens will go there. At least we’d have them screwing up one place instead of the entire country.

No matter how destructive liberal policies may be, they continue to do the same thing over and over. That’s the definition of insanity.
#32

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:19 pm, PBoilermaker said:

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm, ajmontana said:
If they put as much effort into coming here legally and obeying the laws as they do learning how to beat the system everyone would be better off.

Amen!
#33

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:22 pm, Papa Louie said:

terrig said:

Unfortunately the three stooges (with apologies to Larry, Curly & Moe) want to let these “illegals” in and to vote as soon as possible.

I never thought of Barry, Hillary & MoeCain as the Three Stooges before, but they do fit the mold in more ways than one. I just wish their constant bungling was more humorous than ominous. No matter which candidate is elected, we will get an open borders President who is also a narcissistic pathological liar.

All three of these candidates are willing to lie at the drop of a hat. When they are confronted, they attempt to change history rather than own up to the lie. Anyone who knows how to use Google (that leaves out infants and the MSM) can easily determine that they are lying. Here are just a few examples:

Barry Obama attended church for 20 years but did not hear any of the “best of” speeches of Reverend Wright. Rather than admit he agrees with Jeremiah’s racism, he tries to make the case that his white grandmother is the racist and Rev. Wright is just a crazy old uncle that he adores and gives money to.

Hillary Clinton’s whole life story seems to be a lie. She was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, tried to join the Marines, ran through sniper fire in Bosnia, and defends the lies of her husband. She tries to rewrite history on even small, meaningless details in her life, like whether Chelsea was home in bed or out jogging around the World Trade Center when 911 happened. I’m not even sure she knows the difference between truth and reality anymore.

John McCain says he “never supported amnesty”, yet a Google search brings up several quotes where he says that he would not support immigration legislation that does not contain an amnesty provision. Has McCain ever admitted or appologized for this lie? How about his statement more recently that he has “never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special interest group,” Well, McCain, I really don’t expect you to do any favors for conservatives in the future either.
#34

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:36 pm, rooster said:

Papa Louie,
If I may add;

Obama: Hates America and all white people in the world.

Hillary: Congenital liar, Bosnia sniper fire, right wing conspiracy, etc., etc., etc.

McCain: Thinks he’s a democrat campaigning for the illegal alien vote.
#35

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:46 pm, PBoilermaker said:

What an admirable selection of “leaders” to choose from.
#36

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:52 pm, scrat said:

If so many illegals are forced to look for new sources of work, maybe they can try the solution in this comedy video, Day Labor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRLOuUZaq34
#37

On April 5th, 2008 at 6:56 pm, rightisright said:

Too damn bad more states don’t get a copy of Arizona and Oklahoma laws…sure most states have printers. Make copies and…oh, here comes the hard part… find a real
American legislator to propose the bill. Aren’t many of those around anymore.
#38

On April 5th, 2008 at 7:13 pm, graysonret said:

We hear all the time about how this country can’t possibly deport all those millions of illegals. Well, if you pass laws, like in Arizona and PWC in Virginia, they will leave on their own accord. Make it impossible for them to work and live, they will go home.
#39

On April 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm, Speakup said:

No one knows how many immigrants have left the state, and the most recent government figures show Arizona growing robustly — as of July, Maricopa was the fastest-growing county in the nation.

Looks like folks yearned for home.
The old saw, possession is 9/10ths of the law applies to illegal migration.
If enough of us move to Mexico and make lots of babies maybe we could take that country over too, maybe we should.

There really isn’t a shortage of Americans who want to work, there is however a severe shortage of moral, courageous leaders, more willing to take a selfish direction, than do the right thing…for Americans.
#40

On April 5th, 2008 at 9:11 pm, AniMEL said:

SONORA is complaining about the number of people showing up on its doorstep?

I love it!
#41

On April 5th, 2008 at 9:52 pm, desertdweller said:

On top of this, Sheriff Joe has been doing immigration sweeps, within Phoenix city limits, to the chagrin of Mayor Phil Gordon (D).
#42

On April 5th, 2008 at 11:53 pm, fred5676 said:

Mississippi has recently joined AZ, OK, GA, and TN.

South Carolina and Missouri may be next.

Only 43 states to go before one of the three stooges signs an amnesty bill.
#43

On April 6th, 2008 at 12:03 am, wren said:

Meanwhile, Mayor Gavin Newsom has invited all of the illegals to San Francisco. I kid you not! Here is the link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/03/BA0NVUM70.DTL&hw=sanctuary&sn=002&sc=954
#44

On April 6th, 2008 at 1:44 pm, Alphonse said:

That’s the way to go–after employers.

There is too much porous border and too many illegal aliens for Washington to waste billions in putting on a show of enforcement. This country is bankrupt and it is time to stop wasting billions and start using some efficiency.
#45

On April 6th, 2008 at 1:46 pm, Papa Louie said:

To see a funny video of our future job market, check out “The Job” on YouTube from ScreamingFrog.
#46

On April 6th, 2008 at 2:44 pm, fred5676 said:

“Newsom lies, taxes rise”.

Newsom ADVERTISES for illegal aliens, then steals from the nation’s taxpayers for the consequences!

A series of new television and radio commercials, billboards and bus shelter signs will soon go up around San Francisco advertising the fact that the city by the bay is also a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.
City officials on Wednesday unveiled the $83,000 ad campaign…

In 2006, San Francisco received more money from a federal program to fight border crime than any of more than 60 counties in California and three other states that share borders with Mexico
…….
according to a federal audit that found the city was not entitled to any of the funds.
#47

On April 6th, 2008 at 7:22 pm, olsantaroy said:

I was watching the O’Reilly Factor when he first announced Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary city invitation to illegals. Bill was all for promoting a campaign to help S.F. take in as many illegals as possible. Now, it seems S.F. is doing their own advertising. Better yet, why not greet the illegals at the border and the AZ state line, put them on buses and transport them all to S.F. Wish all federal funds for any programs in S.F. could be cut off, especially benefits that might be targeted for illegals. See how Newsom would deal with that.