DHS Secretary Says Illegal Aliens Won't Leave, but Arizona Experience Says Otherwise

Jeh Johnson, the new guy who replaced Janet Napolitano as head of the Department of Homeland Security, remarked recently about illegal aliens, “Everyone knows we have millions of undocumented immigrants in this country, and they’re not going away; they’re not going to self-deport.” His comments came during a February 7 speaking event at the Woodrow Wilson Center with former Congresswoman Jane Harman, now CEO of the place.

That observation is simply not true. When tough enforcement measures are applied, as happened following passage of Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law, illegals packed up and left en masse for more permissive locales. Despite their obnoxious lawbreaking, illegal foreigners are rational creatures who come to make lots of American dollars and act according to that goal.

If the nation as a whole enforced borders and the workplace, most of the foreign job thieves would go back to where they came from. Self-deport, in other words.

Elite liberals piled on with a torrent of vicious lies about SB 1070, nevertheless the law remained popular in the nation and performed as expected in the state.

I reported the state stats from an Arizona Republic story in 2012: Arizona’s Illegal Population Drops 200,000 since 2008.

Members of the press focused on the suffering of illegal aliens having garage sales preceding their relocations. Oh, the horror!

In fact, a 2010 Reuters headline highlighted yard sales: Migrants sell up, flee Arizona ahead of crackdown.

My blog, Escape from Arizona!, analyzed one such tragic tale found in the Arizona Republic.

Below, a self-interested illegal alien family left Arizona for Pennsylvania following the implementation of serious immigration enforcement.

The Associated Press observed the foreigners relocating: Illegal immigrant families leave Arizona and its tough new law for other parts of US, AP, June 22, 2010.

Even National Public Radio agreed, yep, those foreigners are outa there: Immigrants Might Leave Arizona But Not The Country, NPR, August 26, 2010.

That’s right. They go to other, less law-abiding states to steal American jobs. All states should emulate Arizona to limit jobs to citizens and legal immigrants, as well as keep their dollars in America and avoid billions being shipped offshore as remittances.

 


This article was originally published at Limits To Growth.