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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (563364)	4/28/2010 12:35:07 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1575760

The law of unintended consequences Arizona squeeze on immigration angers business Arizona businesses are firing Hispanic immigrants, moving operations to Mexico and freezing expansion plans ahead of a new law that cracks down on employers who hire undocumented workers. Businesses are pushing back against the law, even as they scramble to comply with it. "It's crystal-clear that the employer sanctions law will harm the state economy," says Glenn Hamer, president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "It's simply a question of degree." A University of Arizona study released earlier this year concluded that economic output would drop 8.2 percent annually if noncitizen foreign-born workers were removed from the labor force. Researchers estimate about two-thirds of the workers in that category are in the state illegally. "Getting rid of these workers means we are deciding as a matter of policy to shrink our economy," says Judith Gans, an immigration scholar at the university's Udall Center. "They're filling vital gaps in our labor force." Jason Levecke, the grandson of the founder of the Carl's Jr. fast-food empire and the state's biggest franchisee, has put on hold plans to open 20 more outlets statewide. "That's $30 million that could blow up in my face," he said. "The risk is too great." Ironco recently sealed a deal to outsource some production to a Mexican company. "The labor market is tight, and I face fines if I don't meet my commitments," said Mr. Bailey. Pacing his company's steel-fabrication bay, where welders and fitters build columns, he asked rhetorically: "Who will work here in 112-degree heat, come the summer?" Mr. Levecke, of Carl's Jr., says some customers, emboldened by the law, are confronting his Hispanic workers about their immigration status, sometimes using insults. azcentral.com