adiós a mis amigos
 

pack up your shit! :mad: this is just the start! there will be no place to hide!

PHOENIX (Reuters) ? Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block.

A few paces up the street, her undocumented Mexican neighbor Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered."

The two women are among scores of illegal immigrant families across Phoenix hauling the contents of their homes into the yard this weekend as they rush to sell up and get out before the state law takes effect on Thursday.

The law, the toughest imposed by any U.S. state to curb illegal immigration, seeks to drive more than 400,000 undocumented day laborers, landscapers, house cleaners, chambermaids and other workers out of Arizona, which borders Mexico.

It makes being an illegal immigrant a state crime and requires state and local police, during lawful contact, to investigate the status of anyone they reasonably suspect of being an illegal immigrant.

The U.S. government estimates 100,000 unauthorized migrants left Arizona after the state passed an employer sanctions law three years ago requiring companies to verify workers' status using a federal computer system. There are no figures for the number who have left since the new law passed in April.

Some are heading back to Mexico or to neighboring states. Others are staying put and taking their chances.

In a sign of a gathering exodus, Mexican businesses from grocers and butcher shops to diners and beauty salons have shut their doors in recent weeks as their owners and clients leave.

On Saturday and Sunday, Reuters counted dozens of impromptu yard sales in Latino neighborhoods in central and west Phoenix/

"They wanted to drive Hispanics out of Arizona and they have succeeded even before the law even comes into effect," said Aguilar, 28, a mother of three young children who was also offering a few cherished pictures and a stereo at one of five sales on the same block.

She said she had taken in just $20 as "everyone is selling and nobody wants to buy."

LEGAL RESIDENTS FLEE

Arizona straddles the principal highway for human and drug smugglers heading into the United States from Mexico.

The state's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, signed the law in April in a bid to curb violence and cut crime stemming from illegal immigration.

Polls show the measure is backed by a solid majority of Americans and by 65 percent of Arizona voters in this election year for some state governors, all of the U.S. House of Representatives and about a third of the 100-seat Senate.

Opponents say the law is unconstitutional and a recipe for racial profiling. It is being challenged in seven lawsuits, including one filed by President Barack Obama's administration, which wants a preliminary injunction to block the law.

A federal judge heard arguments from the lawyers for the Justice Department and Arizona on Thursday and could rule at any time.

The fight over the Arizona law has complicated the White House's effort to break the deadlock with Republicans in Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration law, an already difficult task before November's elections.

While the law targets undocumented migrants, legal residents and their U.S.-born children are getting caught up in the rush to leave Arizona.

Mexican housewife Gabriela Jaquez, 37, said she is selling up and leaving for New Mexico with her husband, who is a legal resident, and two children born in Phoenix.

"Under the law, if you transport an illegal immigrant, you are committing a crime," she said as she sold children's clothes at a yard sale with three other families. "They could arrest him for driving me to the shops."

Lunaly Bustillos, a legal resident from Mexico, hoped to sell some clothes, dumbbells and an ornamental statue on Sunday before her family heads for Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Monday.

"It makes me sad and angry too because I feel I have the right to be here," said Bustillos, 17, who recently graduated from high school in Phoenix.

with the loads being put on other states, this will be interesting to see if those other states do something about it?

Are we supposed to be sad?

Congratulations on accomplishing nothing.

well once their drained like Az was they'll wake up.
they are headed your way. :)

they are headed your way. :)

they are headed your way. :) your turn to pay their bills :)

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

The state is still broke and it will take years to recoup the money we lost :winkwink:

well the idea is to give the state some relief from the burden. these elected official we have take up a huge chunk of the states cash. :(

bump bump

no one cares.

LOL reminds me of Machette!

this will have a huge impact on the south in so many ways. I'm interested to see how it will play out in neighboring states

im ready for some to jail some illegals!

:1orglaugh

Yeah, cause we're going to deport 20 million people. That's over 6% of our population.

Sorry, whatever your stance on illegals is. No matter what, thinking we should or even can deport them is impossible. It's too late for that now. If you wanted to make illegal immigration an issue, you're about a century too late.

I know all the media outlets and politicians will lead you on into believing this is an issue you should be focused on. However they're full of shit. Illegals have no impact on this country or the economy more than anything else. They're a blip on the screen of day to day circumstances.

The banks are doing whatever they want, the financial system is totally fucked. Big business has over run and taken control of policy and political agenda. Industries are destroying the earth. Government is spending more and doing less. And every day it gets worse.

But yeah, you flip on that TV and listen to some asshole behind a desk and con you into believing "illegal immigration" is what you should be focused on. Let alone actually suggest to you deporting all of them is even a remotely real scenario. Maybe next month they'll have you complaining about the tooth paste industry or something even less relevant to your life.

It's about time.

it is an issue if your paying their bill. this issue is on the table and its going to be settled in Az the rest of the country soon. time to find another source of income. :) the slums are waiting! :1orglaugh j/k but they need to go back to the countries they love so. tax free income is out the door! cali is next! if i have to go there myself.

your women, how much for them ?
 

All my neighbors are still here... guess that means they are all legal.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

tú lavarme a mí el suyo de nuevo lavar enfermos.=you wash my back ill wash yours. :helpme