Arizona losing illegal immigrants; better off for it

Good posting of an article re: recent illegal immigration trends in Arizona, the benefits of losing a bunch of them at one time, and some thoughts from Alex Birch. Click below for the original Corrupt.org post; I've copied & pasted it here.

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Since Arizona's local law enforcement began enforcing illegal immigration laws and an employer sanctions law went into effect, illegal immigrants have been fleeing the state in large numbers. The effects have been far-ranging. Commuters are reporting fewer vehicles on the freeways, shortening their rush-hour commutes. What had become a serious transportation problem in Arizona is losing its urgency. English Learner Language (ELL) students started dropping out of school. This helped end a confrontation between the state legislature and a liberal federal judge who had ordered the state to spend more money on ELL classes.

Fewer illegal immigrants are using hospital emergency rooms, so waiting times have decreased. Although the rest of the country is in an economic slump, unemployment is going down in Arizona, from 4.5% in January to 4.1% in March. Day laborers loitering outside of Home Depot and other stores have mostly disappeared, ending months of confrontation between illegal immigrant sympathizers and protesters. Desert lands near the border are returning to their pristine condition and the wildlife is coming back. Identity theft and car thefts are decreasing. No one showed up on May 1 to march in immigrant rallies.

(link)

Alex Birch's comments:

Immigration in large amounts, regardless if it's "illegal" or not, is destructive to any society that wishes to maintain its communitarian values. But it's uninteresting to talk about immigration without mentioning pluralism, and pluralism is uninteresting unless we understand it within the context of globalization. This is about creating a global class of cheap labour for the multinational corporations. It's destructive to all societies, including those of African, Mexican and Chinese. The solution is what we espouse here at Corrupt: local, organic societies based on ethnicity, culture, and shared values.