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Tough laws in other states
drive many immigrants to Texas
JAMES PINKERTON
Houston
Chronicle
Sunday February 3, 2008
Illegal immigrants are flowing into Texas across its long borders.
But they aren't just swimming across the Rio Grande from Mexico
or making dangerous treks through the rugged desert.
Instead, a new rush of illegal immigrants are driving down Interstate
35 from Oklahoma or heading east to Texas from Arizona to flee
tough new anti-illegal immigrant laws in those and other states.
Though few numbers are available because illegal residents are
difficult to track, community activists say immigrants have arrived
in Houston and Dallas in recent months, and they expect hundreds
more families to relocate to the Bayou City soon.
(Article continues below)
''They're really tightening the screws," said Mario Ortiz,
an undocumented Mexican worker who came to Houston after leaving
Phoenix last year. ''There have been a lot coming — it could
be 100 a day."
The growing exodus is the result of dozens of new state and local
laws aimed at curbing illegal immigration. The two toughest measures
are in Oklahoma and Arizona.
The Oklahoma statute, which took effect in November, makes it
a crime to transport, harbor or hire illegal immigrants. Effective
Jan. 1, the Arizona law suspends the business license of employers
who knowingly hire undocumented workers. On a second offense,
the license is revoked.
''It's a wave that's happening across the United States,"
said Nelson Reyes, executive director of the Central American
Resource Center in Houston, which has helped immigrants who recently
relocated in Houston from Virginia and South Carolina. ''There
is a migration, within the United States, to the states and cities
more receptive to the reality of the undocumented immigrant."
So far, results of the new laws have been dramatic.
No restrictive laws here
In Oklahoma, one builder estimated that 30 percent of the Hispanic
work force left Tulsa. Reports out of Arizona indicate that several
restaurants have closed in Phoenix because of a shortage of workers,
and vacancies at apartment complexes are increasing, in part because
of departing immigrants.
Experts predict immigrants will flock to Houston and other cities
in Texas because of the state's reputation as a welcoming destination.
The construction industry in Texas has largely weathered a national
housing slump, they note, adding there is a long tradition of
relying on skilled labor from Latin America.
And so far, Texas has not passed any statewide law targeting
the employment of undocumented workers.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that 1.6 million
illegal immigrants were in Texas in 2006.
''Texas is still very much an entrepreneurial place, where you
can find your place in this economy," said James Hollifield,
a Southern Methodist University professor and migration expert.
''It's not an immigrant's paradise, but if you work hard and keep
your head down you can get ahead."
Full
article here.
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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