OPE daily

I had planned to finish up Marketing week here at OPE daily with a post about Newsletters, but this article came out today by the AP, and it’s important to the industry that you know about this.

Ahead of Federal regulations regarding employer liability for hiring illegal immigrants, Arizona’s new, voter-approved, employer-sanctions law goes into effect January 1, 2008. The legislation is an attempt to lessen the economic incentive for illegal immigrants to traverse the busiest crossing point of the U.S. - Mexico border. Under the employer sanctions law, businesses found to have knowingly hired illegal workers will be subject to sanctions from probation to a 10-day suspension of their business licenses. A second violation would bring permanent revocation of the license.

It is hard to say how many illegal-immigrants have left already as many families have returned home for the Holidays, and the construction industry, known to have a high proportion of illegal immigrants, is slowing considerably. For months, Immigrants and businesses alike have taken a wait-and-see approach to the new laws. Now, however, with the enforcement of the law just a week away, the debate is picking up steam and national implications.

The legislations author, State Representative Russel Pearce, has called the exodus, “attrition by enforcement” with the idea that the free market will adjust.