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Authors, sign in!Did you see the news from Arizona last week?
So many undocumented immigrants have fled the state of Arizona since its crackdown and heightened enforcement policy of immigration laws that the economy is suffering markedly. The report I saw noted that millions of people had left the state.
Arizona industry leaders and business owners are now crying for help and complaining about the loss of millions of dollars in business revenue due to the absence of workers and the businesses' inability to respond to a demand for work and production. The state has lost and will continue to lose billions of dollars in productivity thanks to the shortsighted policy changes that went into effect last year.
Even one of the most vociferous elected officials and the leading advocate for harsh enforcement of immigrant laws was calling for a different approach. Many lawmakers in the state are promoting a plan that would permit employers to register undocumented workers, provide them with documents that would allow them to stay in the country and work through a criminal background check and finger printing process. The goal: provide a way for these workers to stay in the United States and stay in our labor force.
Sounds like a practical, workable plan. The current situation is actually not surprising. Sometimes we just aren't facing reality with our more extreme public policies.
Published May 5, 2008 by Larry James |
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| Tags:
Arizona
Immigration
Public Policy
