The city without Mexicans

Sergio Arau’s 2004 film, A Day Without a Mexican, all Mexicans in California suddenly disappear for a day and all non-Latinos are left to deal with the impact which is satirically presented. This film is somewhat reminiscent of a much older film, the 1924 Die Stadt ohne Juden (The City Without Jews), based on Hugo Bettauer 1922 novel, in which an Austrian law forces all Jews to emigrate, leaving unforeseen disastrous consequences.

Arizona may find itself a “city without Mexicans.” There are reports that Latinos in Arizona are leaving the state in droves before SB1070 goes into effect on July 29. Some schools are showing a significant decline in Latino enrollment and retailers primarily serving the Latino community are starting to suffer.

If there ends up being a heavy emigration from Arizona the state would suffer significantly.  We could well then see Arau’s film play out in real life.