Posted on 02/11/2012 6:33:23 PM PST by Libloather
Co-author of Arizona immigration law says 'self-deportation' working
By Josh Lederman - 02/11/12 10:39 AM ET
Immigration crackdowns in Arizona and Alabama are succeeding in persuading illegal immigrants to voluntarily leave the country, the co-author of tough immigration laws in both of those states said Saturday.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an ardent opponent of illegal immigration who has endorsed Mitt Romney, said jobs are opening up for Americans and school budgets flourishing thanks to tough new policies.
"If you want to create a job for a U.S. citizen tomorrow, deport an illegal alien today," Kobach said to boisterous applause at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Since Arizona passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act in 2007 requiring Arizona employers to use the E-Verify system, "people started self-deporting by the tens of thousands," Kobach said.
He also argued that Arizona's primary and secondary education system had seen a "surprise surplus" of almost $50 million.
"Why? Because so many had self-deported," Kobach said.
He extended that argument to Alabama, where he said that in four months since a new tough illegal immigration policy was put in place, unemployment had dropped 1.9 percentage points in parts of the state where meat packing is a major industry.
Kobach did not offer any evidence demonstrating that either consequence had been the result of immigration policies, as opposed to any number of economic or other factors that could contribute to education budgets and the decision by immigrants to leave the country.
The idea of self-deportation, which Kobach said should properly be referred to as "attrition through enforcement," has become a buzzword since Mitt Romney used it repeatedly in a January GOP presidential debate. He said that illegal immigrants shouldn't be forcefully deported en masse, but encouraged to leave voluntarily through policies that denied them opportunities for employment.
Kobach is supporting Mitt Romney's presidential bid and acting as an informal advisor on immigration issues, according to reports.
Kobach spoke at CPAC directly after Alex Nowrasteh, a policy analyst for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who was booed multiple times for arguing in favor of immigration and discussing its advantages.
Great news! The law works when it’s enforced!
The most rational sentence in the article was “Deport an illegal today, create a job for an American citizen tomorrow”.
So true.
If we can’t deport them to Met-E-Co, then send them all to CA. That failed state is already overrun with illegals.
The idea of self-deportation has been around for several years for anyone paying attention. The MSM even ran numerous stories about illegals leaving Oklahoma, Arizona, Georgia, Alabama, and probably some states I've forgotten, after those states passed tough immigration laws.
Of course, the MSM intended those stories to be immigrant sob stories about how inhumane those states were, but most probably viewed them as very positive results for those states.
Kobach endorsed Romney? What a disappointment that is.
Part of it is the crappy economy too.
Gas is likely cheaper in Mexico too.
LOL! my husband loves that since his mantra is...”throw them back over the fence”! And don’t even say racism!
Was back in Phoenix a few months ago, and it is very obviously better there. They timed Sb1070 perfectly, doing it when things had bottomed out.
But. My daughter points out there’s been a huge influx of non-English speaking students this year, here in Western Wa state.
Here in Alabama they really didn’t start leaving in large enough numbers until the law pasted. Then, boom and bye bye. It’s not just meat packing jobs either. I have friends in several different types of jobs that have recently been hired. Some of them had been working under the table, forced to because of the illegals. Others had been out of work for a while. The do-gooders in this state want to repeal the law. The rest of us say make it even stricter.
It appears as though Arizona and Alabama have proven that illegal immigration “reform” DOES WORK.
Do what I did, call the Governors Office, and tell them how proud you are of the Immigration Law, and that you think it could be tougher.
Our politicians need to know what they are doing right, not just what they are doing wrong ;)
Lol! I’ve been saying this for years, (with reference to History of the World Part II)...
yes!
Personally, I’m shocked that Kobach has endorsed Romney. I wonder what the back story is.
Click the keyword Aliens to see more illegal alien, border security, and other related articles.
Goes California, goes the nation. For the love of God when will our leaders wake up? I’m sick of Mexicans and their attitude that they have a right to barge in here and we foot the bill. Why don’t the son of a bitches fix their own damn country?
It is working in Arizona only because of the economy.
“Since Arizona passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act in 2007 requiring Arizona employers to use the E-Verify system, “people started self-deporting by the tens of thousands,” Kobach said.”
Let’s be honest about this.
There’s no doubt that illegals are “self-deporting” themselves out of Arizona and Alabama. But where are they going TO?
I doubt many are simply packing it in and returning to Mexico (or their other countries of origin). They’re just “sidestepping” to other, less hostile states.
Things are going to have to be made -VERY- difficult for illegals in this country before many (most?) of them will actually “go home”. I daresay that even without much in the way of “public benefits”, most of them would stay in America because even when conditions for them are bad here (at least “bad” viewed from our perspective), they are still far better off than the conditions from which they fled back home...
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