ANTIs Mayberrian Dream Turns into Downtown Reality

The following are two news articles. The 1st is a news article from Oklahoma. The 2nd is a news article from Arizona.
In November, Oklahoma passed a restrictionist Immigration law which included verbiage indicating transporting illegal immigrants is a crime. This resulted in Racial Profiling. As a result, a vast number of Hispanics, both legal and illegal, are leaving the State. As businesses are going out of business, lawmakers are looking to rescind the law. This law was originally pushed forward by the Minutemen and introduced by Republican Randy Terrill. Arizona´s restrictionist laws go into effect March 1.
Oklahoma: Tulsa World Reports
U.S. Chamber fights 1804 By OMER GILLHAM World Staff Writer 2/2/2008
It's joined other associations suing Oklahoma over the immigration reform law.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has joined forces with the Oklahoma City and Tulsa chambers to sue the state over its immigration reform law. The U.S. Chamber filed for an injunction Friday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. The lawsuit targets specific aspects of House Bill 1804. Among other things, the new law creates state barriers to hiring illegal immigrants, requires proof of citizenship to receive certain government benefits and makes it illegal to knowingly transport illegal immigrants. Through the injunction, the U.S. Chamber is seeking to stop the implementation of two sections of the measure. The lawsuit challenges a requirement that employers doing business with the state use the federal government's voluntary experimental program for verifying work eligibility. It also challenges require ments for businesses to verify the work authorization status of individual independent contractors to avoid state tax penalties. The injunction alleges that the challenged sections of the law are pre-empted by federal law and are unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In a prepared statement, the U.S. Chamber said: "The organizations supporting the in junction explained that the lawsuit focuses on those provisions of HB 1804 which impose unreasonable burdens on Oklahoma businesses and puts them at a disadvantage compared to competitors in other states, and that HB 1804 puts businesses in the impossible position of having to comply with conflicting federal and state laws."
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Arizona - Fox News Reports:
AGIA PRIETA, Mexico — For the first time, Mexican officials in Arizona admit there is hard evidence illegal immigrants are preparing to leave the state because a new employer sanctions law is making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to keep a job. Illegal immigrants are flooding the Mexican consulate in Phoenix for documents that will allow them to return to Mexico to enroll their children in school, the consul to Arizona, Carlos Flores Vizcarra, told FOX News. They are also requesting a document called "menaje de casa," which allows illegal immigrant families living in the U.S. to cross into Mexico without paying a tax on their furniture and personal belongings. Vizcarra said 94 families asked the embassy for students transfer documents last month, compared to only three last year. He said several thousand immigrants asked for the tax document. In a separate interview, Edmundo Hidalgo of the non-profit immigrant support group Chicanos Por La Causa, said 30,000 illegal immigrants said in a survey last week that they planned to leave Arizona sometime before March 1, when the state’s tough new employer sanctions law goes into effect. Under the law, employers can lose their business licenses if they hire undocumented workers.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has set up a hotline for citizens to report on employers who hire illegals. He has said enforcement will begin when the law goes into effect. Many deputies have also been given arrest authority by Customs and Border Protection to enforce federal immigration law. So in the course of a traffic stop, illegal immigrants without a driver's license could ultimately face deportation.
These factors, combined with a slowing economy, are forcing many undocumented workers to consider leaving Arizona. According to a study last year, 12 percent of Arizona’s workforce is in the U.S. illegally, the highest percentage in the nation. At a immigrant shelter in Agua Prieta, Mexico, just south of the Arizona border, officials say illegal immigrants are leaving the Grand Canyon state because of the employer sanctions law. In the last month, for every five immigrants trying to enter the U.S., four were crossing back in the other direction, said Rosa Soto Moreno, who runs a Catholic shelter that provides food and lodging for illegal immigrants. Soto said illegal immigrants crossing back into Mexico is a new phenomenon, and she attributes it to the new law. "Many of the supervisors are upset by the law, but have told their workers they have no choice," she said.

As the saying goes, "Be careful what you ask for. You might just get it. Not Downtown Mayberry, rather Downtown Reality!"