HispanicVista Columnists

NOVEMBER 19, 2007 - MALDEF, along with American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, the law firm of Altshuler Berzon and the National Immigration Law Center, argued last week in U.S. District Court in Phoenix that the Legal Arizona Workers Act would illegally punish businesses by requiring participation in a flawed federal work authorization verification database and would lead to discrimination against workers who are perceived as being foreign born.

The groups argued that the Act, which is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2008, improperly creates a state scheme that imposes sanctions on employers for employing undocumented workers. Under federal law, only the federal government may sanction employers for knowingly employing unauthorized workers. The Arizona Act provides that employers found to have knowingly employed two unauthorized workers in a three-year period have their business license permanently revoked. The law also requires all Arizona businesses to check their employees' work authorization status through the flawed federal verification database E-Verify (formerly known as the Basic Pilot Program). Unlike the Arizona Act, which makes participation in E-Verify mandatory, Congress has made the use of E-Verify voluntary.

"Rather than run the risk of losing their business license, employers will simply avoid hiring people they think are immigrants, authorized or not," said Kristina Campbell, a MALDEF Staff Attorney. "The United States is supposed to be a country where there is equal opportunity, but this new law says Latinos need not apply in Arizona, regardless of their actual citizenship status."

"Federal law regulating the employment of unauthorized workers has extensive antidiscrimination provisions, protections for employers who unknowingly hire unauthorized workers and a graduated series of penalties. Significantly, the Arizona employer sanctions law has none of these safeguards," noted MALDEF's Director of Litigation Cynthia Valenzuela. "Neither Arizona nor any other state should be allowed to create laws that bypass federal measures guaranteeing equal opportunity for employees and business owners alike."

Founded in 1968, MALDEF, the nation's leading Latino legal organization, promotes and protects the rights of Latinos through litigation, advocacy, community education and outreach, leadership development and higher education scholarships