Growing Fears, Little Reform on Immigration
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 12:27PM
Congressional action on immigration reform remains stalled and now states such as Arizona are revisiting their immigration statutes, with some startling conclusions. Some states, such as Utah, are unexpectedly taking a different tack that assumes an immigration reform stalemate will continue into the future.
While Arizona Governor Jan Brewer believes her state will be vindicated for enacting Senate Bill 1070 that generated national headlines, others aren't so sure. The Arizona Republic editorialized April 23 on the 1-year anniversary of the law's enactment that it was an "expensive, colossal mistake." Arizona businesses report significant losses as a result of commercial boycotts.
Even though significant parts of SB 1070 such as its profiling provisions were tossed out in court, the tenor of the legislation has intensified fears among migrants, including ones in the United States legally. Hispanic workers were common in many restaurants and retail outlets. Now many of those workers have left for employment in other states. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates Arizona's undocumented population shrunk over the last three years from 500,000 to 400,000.
Clint Hickman, vice president of sales and marketing for Hickman Farms, the largest egg producer in Arizona, said his company's sales to grocery stores that cater to Latinos dropped 20 percent after passage of SB 1070. "Eggs are not easily substituted," Hickman said. "It was a loss caused because the people weren't there any more to buy eggs."