Economy Forcing Illegal Immigrants To Leave
By KTAR.com
POSTED: 3:51 pm PDT September 12, 2007
UPDATED: 3:56 pm PDT September 12, 2007
PHOENIX — Illegal immigrants are leaving the state, but not for the reasons people might think.
A Valley research economist says it's not because of the tougher laws targeting illegal immigrants; it's because of a cooling economy.
“Jobs slowed down. Job growth slowed. And it's just natural. They come for jobs and when there are no jobs they leave,” said Dawn McLaren with Arizona State University's WP Carey School of Business.
She said businesses are between a rock and a hard place with the tough new law on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
Some businesses may decide not to locate in Arizona, while some that are already here may choose to bail out because of the legal headaches.
“Once they consider the expense of that they may weigh the cost of leaving with the cost of that prospective litigation,” said McLaren.
Arizona's employer sanctions law takes effect Jan. 1.
