Thread: AZ: No forgiveness for hiring illegal workers

No forgiveness for hiring illegal workers
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Pearce says sanctions law covers all workers

The Associated Press
Dec. 13, 2007

PHOENIX , Ariz. -- A new state law that penalizes business owners who employ illegal immigrants will apply to every worker in the state when it goes into effect on Jan. 1, not just people hired after the new year, the law's chief sponsor said Thursday.

State Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, told The Associated Press that people have misunderstood the employer sanctions law as applying only to new hires.

He said businesses will be penalized for knowingly employing any illegal immigrant after Jan. 1, regardless of when that person started working.

"If you continue to employ them, there's no forgiveness for that," Pearce said. "We're not going to forgive you if you're in violation of the law at the time. It's just kind of a common sense thing."

Pearce's explanation agrees with business leaders who oppose the law and have warned for months that it would poison Arizona's economy.

David Selden, a lawyer representing the businesses, recently surprised a federal judge when he described it as a sweeping piece of legislation that would affect every employee in the state.

Selden said the law's sponsors have done a poor job educating the public about the employer sanctions law.

"I think you have a law that's so poorly written that even the people who wrote it did not even think it through to figure out what it meant," added Selden, who is challenging the law's constitutionality in federal court.

Gov. Janet Napolitano told reporters Wednesday that she signed the law with the belief that it applied only to people hired after the new year. However, she said the law isn't clear on that issue.

Pearce told the AP that he would advise business owners to review work documents for each worker before the new year and ensure they're not employing an illegal immigrant.

"If you get rid of them" before Jan. 1, he said, "then you're in compliance."

In addition, "if you hired somebody and you thought they were legal - they had paperwork that showed they were legal even though it was fraudulent - you're probably OK," Pearce added.

Pearce pushed the employer sanctions measure through the Republican-majority Legislature this year as a way to cut out the economic incentive for people to cross into the United States illegally.

The law forces businesses to help authorities stem illegal immigration by punishing employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants. Second-time violators would have their business licenses permanently revoked.

Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, opposed the bill in part because it was unclear which workers would be under scrutiny.

"A lot of us were not sure," Gallardo said. "A rational thinker would think, if you're going to create a policy like employer sanctions, that you'd only apply it to new hires. But that's not exactly what the bill stated."

The House of Representative's staff-written summary of the Jan. 1 provision states that county attorneys are prohibited "from prosecuting violations occurring before January 1, 2008."

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard hasn't been asked to issue any legal opinions on the law and his office isn't taking a public position on how to apply the law.

"That's ultimately a question that may have to be answered in court," said Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for Goddard.

Andrew Thomas, the chief prosecutor in Arizona's most populous county, has not yet explained how he will enforce the law. Special Assistant County Attorney Barnett Lotstein said Thomas plans to hold a news conference as early as Monday to give some guidance to the business community.

Christopher Straub, Pima County's chief civil deputy attorney, agreed with Pearce.

"And that's a problem for the counties, too, because we're also employers as well and also subject to the law," Straub said.

The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce also agrees with Pearce's interpretation and has been telling business owners that their current employees could penalize them, not just new hires.

posted by Dick Hughes
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pb ... 46/OPINION

Duplicate Article

http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-551967-.html#551967