FROM AFA

Illegals leaving Arizona over new law
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 6/16/2010 6:30:00 AM

An immigration reform organization is pleased by a report that Arizona's new immigration law is apparently already compelling illegal aliens in that state to leave.

According to a recent report in USA Today, Arizona's tough new law is driving Hispanics out of the state six weeks before the controversial law goes into effect. The report says although concrete figures are not available, anecdotal evidence suggests Hispanics -- both legal and illegal -- are starting to flee. Schools in Hispanic neighborhoods are reporting abnormal enrollment decreases, and businesses that cater to Hispanics also report that business is down.

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says this self-imposed exodus undercuts the arguments from those who assert that the only way to solve the problem of illegal immigration is by granting amnesty.

"What this demonstrates is that illegal aliens are rational people. They respond to rational messages," Mehlman says. "And we make it clear that you're not going to benefit by coming to the United States or coming to Arizona and remaining illegally. They get that message and decide it's time to go."

Mehlman says this report should encourage every other state in the U.S. to adopt Arizona's hard-hitting statute.

"As long as there are other places in the country that are willing to turn a blind eye or even reward illegal immigration, you're going to find illegal aliens going to those places where breaking the law is rewarded," he says. "So those states have a choice to make: Do they want to follow suit and do what Arizona has done and institute laws that protect the citizens in those states?"

About a dozen states are already moving in that direction.