Immigration crackdown could cost state $1.9B in lost spendingby

Immigration crackdown could cost state $1.9B in lost spendingby Kirby Lee Davis
The Journal Record June 26, 2008

TULSA – The Oklahoma economy would lose $1.9 billion in annual consumer spending if all undocumented workers are forced out of the state, said a new nonprofit group in support of national immigration reform efforts.

A new study by The Perryman Group of Waco, Texas, suggested U.S. consumer spending would decline by $1.7 trillion a year if the nation enacts an enforcement-only immigration policy on its estimated 8.1 million undocumented workers.That equates to 8.1 million lost jobs, since the nation’s low unemployment rolls cannot fill those shoes, said Beto Cardenas, executive counsel to Houston-based Americans for Immigration Reform. That would lead to Perryman predictions of $652 billion in lost output and $419 billion in lost income.

For Oklahoma, the Perryman report said enforcing a hard-line immigration policy would result in 13,371 lost jobs, $686 million in lost output and $441 million in lost income.

“We’re not training our kids for sheet rock,” Houston interior construction contractor Stan Marek told a Tulsa audience Wednesday. “We’re sending them to college. We’re giving them every opportunity in the world. But who’s going to do the work?”

Houston-based Americans for Immigration Reform commissioned the study as part of its goal to educate Americans on the realities behind today’s immigration debate. Although it takes a definite stance on the issue, Cardenas said AIR sees itself more as an educational arm, seeking to help form a consensus compromise at the national level.

The group chose Tulsa to hold its first public meeting outside of Texas because the Sooner State has already felt repercussions from the enactment of its own immigration reform. After that Wednesday morning meeting, the group took its public education campaign to Oklahoma City, launching a $20 million fundraising campaign to carry its message across America.

“It is through meetings such as these that meaningful change can occur,” said Kell Kelly, president and chief executive of Tulsa-based SpiritBank. “We need to prioritize our leadership nationally so that frustration doesn’t boil over into the radical positions others espouse.”

Since state House Bill 1804 took effect Nov. 1, several sources have reported a migration of Hispanics out of Oklahoma, and resulting operational problems to a wide range of service and labor-intensive businesses. But their numbers often vary. During a University of Tulsa symposium in March, visiting TU assistant professor of political science Linda Allegro said more than 25,000 Hispanics had left Oklahoma since HB 1804 took effect. Sebastian Lantos, the owner of the translation services company Sebastian Lantos LLC, estimated 30,000 had fled just from the Tulsa area.

Several controversial elements of that bill now stand in limbo, awaiting final court decisions or potentially overriding federal action. But several members of the Tulsa audience spoke Wednesday of its continued shadow.

Marek, president and chief executive of the Houston-based Marek Family of Companies, told how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security now targets businesses employing Hispanics and other immigrants in its labor force, using surprise inspections to check worker identification forms. Since his firm employs thousands of potential illegal residents, he fears one such visit could put his company out of business.

“They haven’t done that yet, but it could happen,” he said, fearing federal officials may wish to make an example of a company like Marek.

“I wake up every morning wondering if today is the day,” he said. “Every construction contractor in this country is probably in the same situation. It’s like playing Russian roulette.”

Cardenas said the AIR stands behind strong efforts to safeguard America’s borders. It also stands behind creating a fast, reliable system for employment verification, maintaining an employer’s accountability for hiring employees with legal status.

To achieve that, the AIR backs creation of an efficient temporary worker program, seeking a “humane, realistic way to handle the undocumented workers now here,” said Cardenas.

The AIR seeks to raise $12 million this year toward building a $20 million fund for its advertising and educational campaign.

With $1 million already in their hands, the AIR intends to target 16 states, including Oklahoma, where immigration issues stand at the forefront of public discussion. From those states it hopes to build a grass-roots educational campaign to strengthen immigration policy and create a partnership environment for effective national reform.

“How appropriate that we’re meeting in a bank today,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll take deposits for any cause.”

“Absolutely,” Kelly chimed in.