Self deportation works!

Tucson Citizen:

...

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.

"The situation in Arizona has become very tough," Jorge said minutes after driving into a Mexican immigration and customs checkpoint south of the border on Mexico 15.

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.

"If people can't find work, they won't be able to pay their bills, so they will leave," Hernandez said.

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.

...

There is much irony in that last quoted paragraph. The specter of "undocumented" workers getting documentation so they can go home is pretty rich. The importance of this story is that it confirms what I have been saying for months on immigration. We do not have to deport everyone. They will deport themselves if they cannot get work. Perhaps they will go to the trouble of getting the documentation they need to work in the US for next trip across the border. BTW, we need to become more efficient at approving applications for citizenship so that workers we need can get in.