Study Finds That 100,000 Latinos Have Left Arizona Since The Implementation Of Its Radical Immigration Law

Latinos appear to be making a quick exit from Arizona. A new study by BBVA Bancomer Research, drawing on Census data, finds 100,000 fewer Latinos living in the state now than before the debate over S.B. 1070 -- the "Papers, please" law -- this summer. From the Denver Post:

The study says the decline could be due to a new law that would allow police to question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally, which partly took effect in July. It may also be due to Arizona's difficult economic situation.

Those two ideas aren't necessarily separate. The outward flow of Latinos has had at least short-term economic consequences, as they stop renting houses and as tourists worried about phony news of beheadings stop showing up.
Meanwhile, the key players behind S.B. 1070 are doing just great. Gov. Jan Brewer got re-elected, despite her best efforts to sink her own campaign. State Sen. Russell Pearce, who sponsored the bill, gets to be president of his chamber now. And Kris Kobach, the attorney who helped craft the "Papers, please" law, gets to be the new secretary of state for Kansas


This past summer, Arizona began the implementation of its draconian new immigration law, SB-1070. Now, a new study from BBVA Bancomer Research, using data collected by the U.S. Current Population Survey, finds that as many as 100,000 Latinos may have left the state in the time period between when the law was enacted and October of this year:

A new study suggests there may be 100,000 fewer Latinos in Arizona than there were before the debate over the state’s tough new immigration law earlier this year.
BBVA Bancomer Research, which did the study, worked with figures from the U.S. Current Population Survey. 

The study is careful to note that it is not claiming that the exodus was a result of Arizona’s new immigration law; another possible factor is a worsening economy. Mexican government figures show that “23,380 Mexicans returned from Arizona to Mexico between June and September” of this year.