PHOENIX (By Jon Garrido, Hispanic News) October 31, 2007 — The most callous action taken by Hispanics against other Hispanics was taken by members of the Arizona State Legislature who voted to approve HB 2779, the Fair and Legal Employment Act (Employer verification requiring employees have valid social security cards to continue employment).

How can any one justify Hispanics who represent Hispanics voting for laws that bring devastation to so many other Hispanics? Is their skin not brown like ours? It appears not!

Hispanic legislators ran their political campaigns promising Hispanics if the Hispanic community supported their elections, they would represent the best interests of the Hispanic community. Obviously, some Hispanic legislators blatantly did not live up to their promises to act as our advocates.

How can any Hispanic who sits in the Arizona legislature justify voting for a law that would cause 500,000 migrants to leave our state? Think of the broken family, community, and school ties lost and not least, the anguish of not knowing what the future holds for one's family.

Every Hispanic legislator who voted for the new Employer verification law should be hung in effigy to show our distain with their arrogance of power and being aloof to the turmoil they have caused.

I am serious about hanging them in effigy. When cooler weather comes, we should hold a rally and burn in effigy those that would do us harm. Every legislator and organization contrary to our advocacy for Hispanics must pay. They can not escape the betrayal and harm they have done.

What follows is a small identification of those that have betrayed us and showed us no respect. Each organization and individual should be shunned and their names be made known to all for they have betrayed the Hispanic community.

The adverse impact on Arizona

If all undocumented workers are removed from Arizona's workforce, economic output will drop annually by at least $29 billion, or 8.2 percent, according to a University of Arizona report.

It also found Arizona's documented and undocumented immigrants generate nearly $44 billion in output annually.

"Output" includes the value of goods produced in industry, wages and profits.

The study also looked at what would happen to specific industries that lost most non-citizen workers. The figures assumed unskilled citizens would fill some positions.

Without most non-citizen immigrants, the simulations showed:

• $6.56 billion in lost construction output.

• $3.77 billion lost in manufacturing.

• $2.48 billion lost in service sectors.

• $600.9 million lost in agriculture.

According to Daniel Gonzalez, "It's impossible to count how many undocumented immigrants have fled because of the new law. But based on interviews with undocumented immigrants, immigrant advocates, community leaders and real-estate agents, at least several hundred have left since Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano signed the bill on July 2. There are an estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona. Some are moving to other states, where they think they will have an easier time getting jobs. Others are returning to Mexico, selling their effects and putting their houses on the market."

The following House Democratic members voted to approve sanctions against employers who do not verify their workers

The Hispanics identified below voted in favor of HB 2779. They should be voted out of office for failing to advocate the welfare of Hispanic migrants. Either they were too stupid to understand what they voted for or they believe migrants should be abolished from Arizona. Regardless, they have no businesses representing the Hispanic community. To add insult to injury, some portray themselves as advocates for the Hispanic community. Voting without any one supposedly knowing how they vote in the dark chambers of the state legislature shows their true sentiments of being anti-migrants and thus being anti-Hispanic. 

There is no justification for voting "yes" on HB 2779. Some legislators have supported the migrant community in the past but a "yes" vote on HB 2779 out weights by a trillion times any act to support the migrant community. Voting "yes" is indefensible. These Hispanic legislators talk out of both sides of their mouths.

The following Senate Democratic members voted in favor of House Bill 2779; fair and legal employment act.

The following House Democratic members voted in favor of House Bill 2779.

House Democratic "yes" Votes for HB 2779, Third Reading: fair & legal employment act.