Arizona’s immigration laws — Senate Bill 1070 and the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) — were designed to drive undocumented immigrants out of the state by levying punishments on Arizona businesses that hire undocumented immigrants.
The laws seem to have accomplished this immediate goal, but they have done so at the expense of Arizona’s economic recovery. This is part of the message I will be delivering at the Arizona Immigration Solutions Conference at Mesa Community College on Saturday.
LAWA, known as the “Employer Sanctions Law,” forced Arizona businesses to verify the legal work status of all employees through an expensive and abysmally inefficient federal database called E-Verify. SB 1070 created more problems by strengthening the E-Verify provision of LAWA that enhances the business “death penalty” in Arizona. For a second offense of knowingly or intentionally hiring undocumented immigrants, businesses lose their operating licenses.
The system is a huge time waster for small businesses, especially those that cannot afford a full-time human resources staff to correct problems.
Mike Castillo, a small business owner in Scottsdale, is a perfect example. He wanted to hire a part-time employee in 2010. A technical glitch in E-Verify made it difficult to file the necessary information, so Castillo had to solve the problem himself. This forced him to spend precious time away from his core responsibility — running his business.
E-Verify creates problems for larger companies too. MCL Enterprises, which owns 24 Burger King restaurants in Arizona, reported that more than 14 percent of its employees — including 75 percent of foreign-born workers — were initially deemed unauthorized to work in the United States by E-Verify. Those workers were later cleared for legal employment by federal agencies after great company expense and time.
Why should we care? Because more than two-thirds of economic activity in the United States comes from the small business community. The last thing we need to do, especially in this poor economic climate, is add to the day-to-day burdens of already overtasked small companies.
E-Verify, meanwhile, does not even meet its main goal. A major 2009 audit by the research service Westat found 4.1 percent of the system’s initial responses to employment verification queries were inaccurate, and E-Verify initially approved more than half of all employees who were actually unauthorized.
According to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, LAWA has shifted “unauthorized workers into less formal work arrangements.” In other words, E-Verify is pushing undocumented immigrants even deeper into the labor black market.
Arizona’s agriculture industry is also suffering at the hands of these laws. Santiago Gonzalez used to farm 3,300 acres in Phoenix’s West Valley growing potatoes, onions, alfalfa and watermelons. This year he planted 10 acres of onions, down from 700 acres two years ago, because he could not find enough workers. Gonzalez is not alone. There were 17,900 fewer acres under cultivation in Arizona in 2010 than in 2007. This helps explain why, since mid-2008, the Arizona unemployment rate has been consistently higher than the national average.
Agriculture is a $10 billion annual industry in Arizona, but it cannot survive without a sufficient labor force. Farmers cannot raise wages because they operate on such thin margins and we expect low food prices. So many are left with no choice but to plant less or move production to Mexico, thereby reducing employment levels.
When Arizona farmers plant less, they buy less fertilizer, pesticides, farm equipment, gasoline, and the myriad other goods and services that go into producing food. Arizona farm output is down because the government increased threats to employers while doing nothing to address the need for legal foreign workers.
In the end, lawmakers in Arizona — or any other state — cannot fix all of the nation’s economic problems by passing laws like LAWA and SB 1070, which unfairly turned struggling businesses and workers into suspected outlaws and simply make matters worse. Ultimately Congress must increase legal immigration and work visas to make it happen.
• Alex Nowrasteh is a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. He will be guest panelist at the Arizona Immigration Solutions Conference on Saturday at Mesa Community College.
Arizona Immigration Solutions Conference
Where: Mesa Community College Kirk Student Center, 1833 W. Southern Ave., Mesa
When: Saturday. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. The conference begins at 9:30 a.m.
Cost: The event is open to the public. Registration is $10 (includes a boxed lunch). Guests must pre-order lunch online at www.azeir.org/aisc/.
ram1009 posted at 9:26 am on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Shame on you for portraying yourself as a journalist. This "story" is so one sided I hardly know where to begin contradicting it. The only economic downturn resulting from illegals leaving Arizona is to people profiting from their presence. I don't know who you are but I suspect you were/are one of them. My suggestion is for you to follow the illegals wherever they went. If you can't make an honest living I, for one, don't want you in Arizona any more than I want the illegals. We need more and stronger laws like SB1070. If illegal immigration keeps going like it is a race war is inevitable. Is that what you want? Or will you just pack your bags and find another situation to exploit? I'm tired of paying for anchor babies and welfare for non-citizens in any form including free schooling where they fail to even learn AND USE the English language. Shame on you. Go back where you came from and take the illegals with you.
freedomiseverything posted at 10:31 am on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Ram, if you read the article you would see that 'honest' businesses are hurting because they are selling less as a direct result of SB1070. But maybe that doesn't matter to you either.
Duuurp posted at 11:50 am on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Waaaah! to freedom is nothing! I agree with ram, yea, you are obviously pro illegal ... but I stand with Ram, if there were Jobs for US AMERICANS be it in the ELECTRICAL, PIPE FITTING, DRYWALL, PAINTING, MC DONALDS, ETC. We would as Americans have them and spend money. But you are obviously pretty blind to the un-employed AMERICANS around you. We were fine with out them before, and hopefully there will be an after. Lets all go to Mexico illegally and take all their jobs and make them sit on their butts wanting a job, if it were reversed I am sure they would understand, but the sad part is that they don't care,, i can care a less to any business that caters to illegals or hires them. Our children who are in High School have a hard time finding jobs and the ones that they do, have paid allot lower due to the situation of illegals being here costing the taxpayer BILLIONS in health care, education and hand outs!
chatmandu002 posted at 1:37 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Alex is a total lying sack of BS. As to be expect from the open border crowd. Just what we don't need in AZ, another eastern liberal telling us what we must do. Take your BS back to DC Alex.
Build the wall, build it now.
Enforce all the laws all the time.
CooperG posted at 2:46 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Uh, ram1009, he's not a journalist. It's an "opinion" piece. You know, those things protected by the First Amendment. In case you're not aware, that's in this thing called the C-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n. It has some relevance here.
As for you wall-mongers, exactly what country anywhere on Earth has a wall stopped anything? Walls don't work. We need something that does. I think the conference asking that question is a great idea.
freedomiseverything posted at 3:32 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Duurp. I am against illegal immigration. I am also PRO-BUSINESS because that means JOBS for US AMERICANS. SB1070 is ANTI-BUSINESS ! and kills jobs for US AMERICANS !
RationalHuman posted at 5:48 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
CooperG wrote:
"As for you wall-mongers, exactly what country anywhere on Earth has a wall stopped anything?"
Drop out of high school, CooperG? What a shame.
Ever hear of the Great Wall of China? It kept the murderous Mongol hordes out of northern China for over 1100 years.
Funny how you seem to be completely ignorant of this fact known to high school graduates...actually, not really that funny at all.
I would love to see a picture of your back yard...and would bet my next paycheck that it has WALLS around it. Practice what you preach CooperG! Since you believe walls never stop anything, take down the one around your yard...or keep being an ignorant hypocrite. Your choice! :)
samkat posted at 5:54 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
After they came out with the self verification, I spent all of two minutes getting verified so it is nothing but BS when employers try to use that excuse. The only glitches I can think of is when an individual has had his or her identity stolen. There are provisions in E-Verify that allow an applicant or employee to contest the results. What is needed are stronger sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegals. States also need to start going after employers of illegals with tax audits as well. Any illegals as well as their employers need to to fined and turned over to the legal side for prosecution. That would send a strong message that hiring illegals will not be tolerated. The IRS should also be pulling tax exemption status from organizations and churches who encourage illegal immigration. We are already at 12 to million and counting. Actually the number could be higher since nobody actually has a handle on the total count.
CooperG posted at 8:49 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Rational... what an irrational comparison. The Great Wall, if actually used today, would be as worthless as the border wall we're building today. I don't know why you irrational people can't think in modern history and always look to turn the clock back. In your case, you want to turn it back to 220 BC.
Laughable. The Great Wall has effectively fallen. It stops nothing any more.
magyart posted at 9:26 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Busnesses across the nation are selling less, it's a bad economy, not E-Verify. E-verify is very acuarte and easy to use. It's a free govt. resource. It doesn't take a great deal of training and the task involved is simple. The employer basicaaly enters a social security number into the computer.
No citizen has ever lose a job or been fired because of E-Verify. Some citizens do sign their employment application with a name different than what the social security admin. has on file. Consequently, the employee isn't approved. This emplyee merely needs to clairify "HIS" error, so he can be hired.
We will not have an economic recovery with almost 10% unemployment. The faster businesses work to emply legal immigrants and citizens (not illegals), the faster the economy recovers.
Arizona Willie posted at 10:21 pm on Fri, Sep 16, 2011.
Most illegals are not cutting grass or picking tomatoes. Many come here with skills and take skilled positions.
If you think there is no correlation between having millions of illegal aliens and having millions of American workers unemployed --- I have some oceanfront property 5 miles outside Phoenix for sale.
Masterrogue666 posted at 3:01 am on Sat, Sep 17, 2011.
CooperG: You are wrong again.
I argued that point in a different article.
Here's the link:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/columnists/article_768ec824-d4d9-11e0-966b-001cc4c03286.html
Here's what I stated:
"Well, Bill can count! Looks like avoiding a debate isn't his only skill, if one can call that a skill.
Bill is CORRECT! Arrests are the lowest they have been in years. Here's the stats from USBP's Southwest Border (mentioned in said article).
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/usbp_statistics/bp_swb_apps_60_10.ctt/bp_swb_apps_60_10.pdf
There's a great deal of conjecture as to exactly why. Economy, increased (BUT NOT COMPLETED) Border Security, perhaps they've established routes not as heavy patrolled (Cartels have been know to adapt), all of the forementioned, et al. The problem Bill, is that it won't remain that way as long as the border is porous.
If/When our economy starts to climb again, or if KING Obama keeps allowing ALL "Non criminal" (In HIS MIND, mind you) ILLEGAL ALIENS to stay in the USA, the flood will be back once again. What I found interesting is the stats for Yuma and San Diego. If I recall correctly, the triple fence (ONLY 300 miles of it, by the way) in Yuma, was completed sometime in 2008 (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/03/31/20080331yuma-wall0331-ON.html). From an article I read about San Diego's fence (14 miles), it was STARTED back in 1996, taking about 10 years to complete (due to lawsuits, et al). (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5323928).
Check the numbers. The LARGEST DECREASE is where major fences have been built.
Yuma fence STARTED Oct 2006 (not completed) Total caught in Yuma 2006: 118,549. Within ONE YEAR, that number dropped to 37,992.
San Diego, started 1996 (by 2004 only 9 miles completed). Total caught 1996: 483,815, Total caught in 1997: 283,889. Total caught 2004: 138,608
Another interesting fact was that San Diego's fence was STARTED during the height of the ILLEGAL ALIEN FLOOD (the late 1990's), and even though it wasn't completed until nearly a decade later, it had a MAJOR affect.
Thanks Bill, for bringing this info to my attention....."
The walls may not completely stop border crossing, but if WILL slow them down to a trickle that can be managed by Border Agents.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 8:01 am on Sat, Sep 17, 2011.
For the past year...year and a half........almost every Illegal Alien coming across the Border from Mexico has a 20+ lb of marijuana, cocaine or meth strapped to his or her back. I guess that's why the ...Liberals...the Progressives....and the Democrats...don't want the supply of weed to go down if we ever put up the Wall.
This "opinon-ista" from Southern California, Harvard and London educated uses the term......'IMMIGRANT"...over and over and over.
He might want to invest in a cheapie Webster's Dictionary...he can pick one up at 99Cents store...........unless...unless.....he was being "intelectually dishonest" ...on purpose...NO...NOT ...HARVARD GRADUATES......JUST LOOK AT OUR PRESIDENT............[wink]
Masterrogue666 posted at 12:34 pm on Sat, Sep 17, 2011.
Alex Nowrasteh: You are right that SB1070 caused ILLEGAL ALIENS to leave AZ in droves. However, it's because the Democrats allowed practically anyone qualify for a home. In some cases, it didn't matter that they were ILLEGAL ALIENS. Now those high risk people are now defaulting on their loans.
Me, I have three loans out right now. Due to matters outside my control, I was unable to sell the two homes we planned on selling, and when we were ready, the market had crashed. I refuse to take a lost. I ALSO REFUSE NOT TO PAY MY DEBTS. So, I've become a landlord.
As for E-verify, it isn't as hard as you claim. The REAL PROBLEM is that there are disreputable businesses out there that refuse to comply. Now they are behind the 8 ball. I check out any business that I hire for repairs I can't/shouldn't handle. That usually means that it will cost me more upfront. However, in the long run, I'll be better off because the work was done by a qualified person/business.
If E-verify IS that bad, then it should be fixed, and improved. However, not having any system would be moronic in the extreme.
California is in a much more dire economic situation that Arizona. It's not hard to guess the reason, either....
bobunf posted at 11:03 am on Sun, Sep 18, 2011.
RationalHuman needs some lessons in history. The Mongol empire originated with Genghis Khan beginning in 1206 AD. 1100 years would land us in 2306, which hasn’t happened yet. But in the meantime:
Genghis Khan died in 1227, and his son, Ogedei in 1230, personally led his army in the campaign against the Jin Dynasty of China. The wall held for less than a year. Ogedei's general Subotai captured Emperor Wanyan Shouxu's capital, Kaifeng in 1232. They finished off the Jin dynasty in 1234. The Chinese Song imperial family surrendered to the Yuan in 1276, making the Mongols the first non-Chinese people to conquer all of China. You may have heard of Kublai Khan.
So much for the Great Wall of China.
sockratties posted at 8:08 am on Mon, Sep 19, 2011.
Sam - You need to check your facts. You are wrong about every point except that there is a negative economic impact resulting from illegals leaving Arizona because people profit from their presence. By now you should know that “anchor babies” are a myth and much of the local downturn in business resulting in lost jobs is because of the loss of these customers. I don't remember a lot of stores, gas stations and landlords refusing to take their money. Yes, those people you hate spent a lot of money, paid a lot of taxes, created a lot of retail and service jobs, paid a lot of rent and didn't contribute to the failure of our financial system. Good ole' American greed did that.
Mr. Nowrasteh is a Southern California native who worked in the finance industry before becoming a policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Houston Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Investor's Business Daily and in The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. He holds a Master of Science in Economic History from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Mason University and specializes in analyzing immigration and economic policy. This information is readily available if you look for it.
In the commentary, Nowrasteh is mostly talking about farm workers; those people who come North to work in the crops and go home after the harvest. This source of labor has dried up as a result of Arizona laws meant to stem the influx of illegal immigrants. Provisions could easily be made to accommodate agricultural workers.
I don't think there are a lot of U. S. citizens lining up to harvest onions, melons and potatoes. They are lining up at the unemployment office though. Maybe Arizona should require that people take the farm jobs before they take the government check.
The only wall that has been effective was the Berlin wall which worked for about 50 years. That was the kind Ron Paul cautioned us about. It was to keep people in, not out!
sockratties posted at 11:23 am on Tue, Sep 20, 2011.
leon - you’re obviously spending too much time in the 99 cent store. Your dictionary was for sale there because it was flawed.
Merriam Webster defines “immigrant” as...
: one that immigrates:
: a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence.
Can you inform us where you got your data regarding the 20 lbs. of drugs strapped to the backs of illegals crossing the border from Mexico?
Having your own opinion, no matter how vile is one thing, but making up your own facts is lying.
RationalHuman posted at 4:24 pm on Tue, Sep 20, 2011.
Wow! CooperG wouldn't even admit to his error, even when confronted with facts!
Typical pro-illegal mongrel.
Always disappointed, never surprised.
RationalHuman posted at 4:27 pm on Tue, Sep 20, 2011.
sockrat wrote:
"By now you should know that “anchor babies” are a myth"
Yes, our under-funded, over burdened public school system is a myth.
So are the long lines at local emergency rooms.
Sockrat, you should really put the drugs away and take in the reality of what's going on around us.
A_Rose_By_Any_Other_Name posted at 6:29 pm on Tue, Sep 20, 2011.
sockratties, are you kidding us here? You don't know that illegal aliens, with drugs on their backs like mules, are coming into America daily to feed your children meth and pot and any other drugs being manufactured in Mexico these days? Are you that stupid or just totally having your head in the sand?
A_Rose_By_Any_Other_Name posted at 6:33 pm on Tue, Sep 20, 2011.
CooperG, A fence is just one aspect of an effective control of our borders. A very good aspect of it, but not the total package. An illiterate socialist will always pick a good argument apart by attacking only one leg at a time. Try taking a look at the entire picture for once in your life.
techguy posted at 4:10 am on Wed, Sep 21, 2011.
Another hand-wringing liberal who tries to muddy the waters by omitting the word "illegal" from "illegal immigrant". Nobody I know has a problem with LEGAL immigrants, as most of our ancestors were exactly that. But ILLEGAL immigrants - people who jump the queue and expect to be rewarded for their illegal behavior - are a huge problem. To omit the word ILLEGAL is to tarnish the reputation and good acts of ALL IMMIGRANTS. It's a cheap attempt to muddy the waters so that anyone and everyone who wasn't from this country ("immigrants") are somehow deserving of the same empathy and understanding. Sorry, no sympathy for immigration criminals who break the law and expect to be rewarded for it. Get in line like everybody else does and let's put an end to the entitlement mentality that is ruining our country! It's time the USA started acting like most other countries and take their immigration laws seriously.
TeaPartyPatriot posted at 12:39 pm on Wed, Sep 21, 2011.
This is such a retarded and racist article I hardly think it's even worth commenting on. La Ratza propaganda at best. Alex Nowrasteh, your opinion isn't worth enough to be in this paper.
quietgardens posted at 1:23 pm on Tue, Oct 4, 2011.
How old are you, Alex? It is obvious you don't know enough about how things work. Employers that hire illegals aren't pro-America, they are just plain selfish. They take away jobs that Americans could have. You know that unemployment rate that is horrendous and haunts us these days? It would go dramatically down, if all jobs in America were given to Americans. Or recession has been extended because the few jobs there are sometimes filled by illegals. If they want to work in America, then come here the LEGAL way. Then they won't have to hide, then they can work in peace, then they can put money into the system, just like all the rest of us.