Lack of federal immigration legislation is causing states to pass their own immigration laws — some of which are so stringent that thousands of Hispanics have chosen to leave their home states.
"As predicted, states are taking a harsh stance on immigration in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform," says Jeanne Ramsay, SAF's senior director of government relations. "Starting in 2006, several states took matters into their own hands ... the state [immigration] laws include penalties, fines and other punitive consequences for conducting business with undocumented workers."
In early November, ABC-affiliate KTUL-TV reported that tens of thousands of Hispanics had left Tulsa, Okla., to avoid the crackdown on illegal immigrants that the strict new laws will bring. "I know they are not kicking me out, but I am having to leave because that's what they want me to do," said Maria (who declined to give her last name) to KTUL.
The law, HB 1804, which went into effect in the beginning of November, restricts the ability of illegal immigrants to get government ID's or public assistance and allows the police to check the immigration status of anyone arrested. It also makes it a felony for U.S. citizens to knowingly provide shelter, transportation or employment to illegal immigrants.
Many Hispanics who left Tulsa are heading to either Arkansas or Kansas. Arkansas, however, is about to adopt similar legislation, reported KTUL, and Kansas is considering similar action.
Oklahoma isn't the only state with its own immigration laws. In 2007, 18 states enacted immigration legislation. Georgia, Colorado and Arizona are considered to have exceptionally tough immigration laws and have experienced a drop in the states' Hispanic populations, according to USA Today.
Real estate agent Guadalupe Sosa of Avondale, Ariz., told USA Today in August that of the 10 homes she has on the market, half belong to families that are planning to leave because of immigration tension. Colorado State Sen. Dave Schultheis told the publication that while he hasn't seen a major migration out of Colorado, he has heard reports that immigrants are leaving. "It is absolutely a good thing," he said about these reports to USA Today. "We want to make Colorado the least friendly state to people who are here illegally."
--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org
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