Foes call illegal-hiring measure a sham
by Mary Jo Pitzl - Oct. 2, 2008 12:00 AM

A day after a poll showed a new employer-sanctions proposal passing handily, some of the state's staunchest foes of illegal immigration called the ballot measure a sham.

"Proposition 202 is a fraud on the voters," said Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. "In fact, it would enable illegal hiring."

Prop. 202 is the Stop Illegal Hiring Act, created by business groups unhappy with the state's employer-sanctions law. They say their aim is to keep the framework of the 2007 law intact, but to close loopholes, such as the current law's inability to go after employers who pay their workers only in cash.
The measure, which goes before voters in the Nov. 4 general election, loosens the screening requirement placed on Arizona employers for new hires and raises the threshold for filing complaints about illegal hires by requiring complaints to be signed, rather than anonymous.

A Cronkite/Eight poll released Tuesday showed Prop. 202 passing with 63 percent, with 19 percent opposed.

But state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who authored the state's sanctions law, said he believes if voters understood what was in Prop. 202, the measure would fail.

"Prop. 202 is just the opposite of what it says," Pearce said at a news conference also attended by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps president Chris Simcox and several Republican lawmakers.

Pearce and his colleagues said they would spread the word about the ballot measure.

Simcox said the Minutemen will launch an educational effort on Prop. 202.

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