Riverside : They removed illegal immigrants, three years later is it everything they hoped for?

POSTED BY Kristin Linder, 26 September 2007

 

 

Amidst the loud arguments over the definition of American, the importance of English, the growing slums from illegal immigrants, and the strain on the welfare state to pay for 'criminal aliens,' there is little heard voice from the economists. The idea of shipping 11 million people out of the country has led many economists to question whether people have thought of the consequences. Often the argument is made on the news that illegal immigrants are hurting our economy, and often over on the economic blogs there is discussion of the larger advantages of having 11 million cheap and unskilled laborers.

Cities across the country have risen for the American side of the often termed 'culture war,' passing ordinances banning businesses from hiring illegal immigrants and landowners from renting to them. One of those cities was Riverside, New Jersey, and now it is rethinking its policy.

The law had worked. Perhaps, some said, too well.

With the departure of so many people, the local economy suffered. Hair salons, restaurants and corner shops that catered to the immigrants saw business plummet; several closed. Once-boarded-up storefronts downtown were boarded up again.

The city has spent over $87,000 on lawsuits defending the ordinance, and says it just isn't worth it with the unforeseen consequences.

The legal battle forced the town to delay road paving projects, the purchase of a dump truck and repairs to town hall, officials said. But while Riverside’s about-face may repair its budget, it may take years to mend the emotional scars that formed when the ordinance “put us on the national map in a bad way,” Mr. Conard said.

For many in the town the goal was to become more American. When the ordinance passed three years ago, Riverside was branded names ranging from a racist enclave to the town fighting for American values. The town was deserted by immigrants overnight.

“I don’t think people knew there would be such an economic burden,” said Mayor George Conard, who voted for the original ordinance. “A lot of people did not look three years out.”

Riverside was deemed a litmus test for the national scene, and many are concluding the effects too damaging. Would the economy as a whole suffer with a mass removal of the workforce - and buying force - from many communities? Should the question of culture take a back seat to the reality of economic needs?