Illegals Leaving the Sinking Ship?  

Q: How do you know that a nation’s economy is going to the dogs?

A: When the illegal immigrants pack up and leave the country.

On Tuesday, February 12, the New York Times reported that “The signs of flight among Latino immigrants [in Arizona] are multiple: Families moving out of apartment complexes, schools reporting enrollment drops, business owners complaining about fewer clients.”

Economists, business people and immigration groups conclude that “the weakening economy coupled with recent curbs on illegal immigration are steering Hispanic immigrants out of the state.”

Some states like Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado and Georgia have started cracking down hard on illegal immigrants, often with unintended consequences. Construction companies relying on Hispanic laborers can’t complete their jobs; the Chicago Tribune reported that in Tulsa, OK, “splintered trees, downed branches and piles of wood [are] still littering nearly every neighborhood of this sprawling city two months after a devastating ice storm,” and many businesses catering to Hispanics have been boarded up.

Some illegal workers have moved to other states with less tough laws, like Texas. But many, it seems, are simply going home. What gives?

The significance of the state of the U.S. economy is conveniently downplayed in the mainstream media. But looking at the overall picture, at least two of the sectors that have kept illegal immigrants happily occupied have all but dried up.

The housing crash has left the construction industry in shambles. Nationwide, new home construction was down 24.8% in 2007, the second-biggest annual decline on record, exceeded only by a 26% drop in 1980. Many smaller builders have gone belly-up, and even the large ones are hurting. Toll Brothers Inc., the nation’s largest builder of luxury homes, reported that fiscal first-quarter revenue fell 22% year-over-year. And in December 2007, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index – a measure of builder confidence – sank to its lowest level ever.

The restaurant business, which has traditionally employed low-skilled workers as dishwashers and bus boys, is struggling as well. The National Restaurant Association’s performance index dropped to 99 in November 2007, to its lowest level since 2003. Fitch Ratings, a global ratings agency, predicts that “the entire U.S. restaurant industry will be challenged in 2008 by the weakening economy, growing pressures on discretionary income and rising food and labor costs.”

While the Federal Reserve is still contemplating a possible recession, dozens of financial pundits have recently declared that we are already in a recession, and have been for a while. Last year alone, 1,408,852 people lost their jobs due to mass layoffs, real wages have been stagnant for years, and oil and food prices have skyrocketed.

According to figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce from June 2007, the price for oranges has risen 19.8% year over year. Eggs were 19.5% more expensive than in June 2006, frozen juices and fresh whole milk had gone up 17.7% and 13.3%, respectively. As anyone who has ever double checked official government numbers knows, those are usually somewhat beautified – so the real figures could be much worse.

But we should always be willing to give the government the benefit of the doubt. Come to think of it, it might actually be a stealthy but effective strategy by our Neocon handlers to deal with the tidal wave of illegal immigration: turn the U.S. into a third-world country, and even the poor Mexicans won’t bother to come here anymore.