Good stuff. If only the same paper hadn’t written basically the same article four months ago.

Although I guess that just proves the phenomenon has some legs.

Congress’ failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform, immigration crackdowns, Arizona’s new employer-sanctions law and a sluggish economy have combined to create a climate families such as the Francos no longer find hospitable.

The number returning to Mexico is difficult to calculate, but there is no question that many families are leaving, according to Mexican government officials, local community leaders and immigrants themselves…

Dozens of immigrants are leaving the U.S. daily, and even more are expected to leave once the sanctions law takes effect in January, provided the law survives a last-minute legal challenge, said Rosendo Hernandez, president of the advocacy group Immigrants Without Borders…

In what are considered bellwethers of permanent moves back to Mexico, the Mexican consulate in Phoenix has seen a dramatic increase in applications for Mexican birth certificates, passports and other documents that immigrants living in Arizona will need to return home…

The economy could be devastated if all were to leave, advocates say. But [Rep. John] Kavanagh, one of the most outspoken backers of the sanctions law, doubts the law will have much impact on Arizona’s economy. He hopes any economic problems caused by illegal immigrants leaving Arizona will pressure Congress to create a guest-worker program to allow more foreign-born workers to enter legally to help fill labor gaps.

Note the detail near the end about what happens when you have an anti-sanctuary sheriff like Joe Arpaio who isn’t willing to look the other way a la Mayor Rudy because, hey, immigration’s the feds’ problem, man. As for Kavanagh, it could be years before a guest-worker program passes; if this exodus is as mass as the article suggests and the economic damage is grave, it could actually be a boon to illegals in proving their claim that America can’t function without them.

Exit question lifted from the last post I wrote about Arizona: Aren’t decamping illegals more likely to go to California or Nevada than Mexico? And won’t the resulting labor shortage in Arizona drives up wages, attracting citizens from California and Nevada to decamp to Arizona?