Mexican immigrants in New Jersey believe that instead of threatening workers with proposed laws, measures should be taken to improve the state’s economy.

A law [proposed by Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney] that would punish employers for hiring undocumented workers in New Jersey is seen by Mexican immigrants as an unwise idea.

José, who preferred not to give his last name due to his immigration status, said that these measures will only damage the state’s economy more. “These laws don’t help anyone. Our jobs are the ones no one wants, not even the unemployed. If they put more obstacles in our way, we’ll leave, and then we’ll see what they do without people,” he said.

José, originally from Chiapas, said that immigrants in New Jersey are the ones doing the most unwanted jobs. “The maquilas, meat packing plants and in the countryside, no one wants to go there. Now they want to persecute us, like in other states, with laws against those of us who came here to work,” he lamented.

In addition, some believe that the proposal revealed this week, which will punish employers for hiring undocumented immigrants, would cause the state to suffer severe economic losses.

“The easiest thing to do is to show no mercy for those of us without papers, but the truth is that no one gives us anything. We pay taxes, we buy houses, we invest, and then they want to persecute us. It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Luis Ulises, a Mexican immigrant from the state of Puebla, who says that the jobs occupied by immigrants in New Jersey and in many other states in the country are the ones that no one wants to do.