Judge refuses to block employer sanctions law

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to block prosecutors from enforcing Arizona's employer sanctions law while foes ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn it.

Judge Neil Wake, who earlier this month ruled the statute is valid, said the potential hardships on employers and others forced to follow the law is "minimal.'' He said there is only a small cost for companies to obtain the necessary equipment to run computer checks on the legal status of new workers.

Wake said putting the law on "hold'' could financially damage the state.

In his Tuesday ruling, the judge cited a study commissioned by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office by George Borjas, a professor of economic and social policy at Harvard University, which showed legal Arizona workers lose $1.4 billion a year because companies hire undocumented employees at lower costs.

And Wake specifically rejected other studies proffered by employers challenging the law. That includes one by Judith Gans, immigration policy program manager at the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona, which said the costs of illegal immigration are offset by the benefits.

Wake said such comparisons are inappropriate.

"The benefits in fact to those who come to this country against the law to make better lives for themselves, to those who save from lower cost labor and general depression of wages from employing unauthorized aliens, and to those who enjoy the products of unauthorized labor at lower prices, do not count,'' Wake wrote.

He said both Congress and the Legislature have specifically said that the interests of those who are entitled to work here legally trump any benefits to those whose finances are improved by illegal immigration.

Tuesday's decision is not the last word: Attorneys for opponents of the law still hope the appeallate court will bar enforcement while they consider the challenge.

But time may be running out.

County attorneys agreed not to prosecute any firm for violating the law until at least March 1. That was designed to give Wake a chance to rule on the lawsuit.

But at this point there is no such commitment by any prosecutor to not go after employers while an appeal is being pursued.

The law, known as the Legal Arizona Workers Act, requires firms to use the federal government's E-Verify system to check whether new employees are legally entitled to work in this country.

But the real teeth are in provisions which allow a judge to suspend any firm's licenses to do business for up to 10 days if they are found to have knowingly hired an undocumented worker. A second offense within three years revokes all licenses.

Various business groups contend the statute is an unconstitutional infringement on the sole power of the federal government to regulate immigration. That challenge has been joined by some community groups who contend the law would result in discrimination against minorities as companies refuse to hire anyone who might not be a legal U.S. resident.

Wake threw out all the challenges earlier this month. That resulted in the appeal -- and the plea to Wake to keep anyone from being prosecuted in the interim.

The part of the bill requiring use of E-Verify, however, has remained in effect, though the law contains no penalty for companies that refuse to use the system.

Wake said anyone seeking an injunction generally must show they are likely to prevail on appeal as well as some irreparable harm if the stay is not granted. He said the challengers failed on both grounds.

He pointed out that Congress specifically allowed states to revoke licenses of firms that hire undocumented workers. And he said the costs to the average employer for complying are a $125 one-time set-up fee and $728 a year in maintenance of the system.

And Wake noted that firms which use the system "will be virtually immune'' from being prosecuted under the Arizona law.

(Published by East Valley Tribune, February 20, 2008)