The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday over Arizona’s employer sanctions law.
The law allows county prosecutors to sue companies to suspend or
revoke their business licenses if they are caught knowingly hiring
illegal immigrants.
How the court handles the Legal Arizona Workers Act could be a large
factor in the fate of Senate Bill 1070, Arizona’s illegal immigration
law. That law is also being challenged in court.
Critics of both laws say immigration is a federal matter. They argue
that Arizona’s efforts to sanction employers that hire illegal workers,
as well as 1070’s provisions requiring local police to enforce
immigration laws, step on federal turf.
Employer sanctions backers say there are stipulations in federal
immigration laws that allow states and localities to go after business
licenses of scofflaw employers, and that 1070 simply mirrors existing
federal law.
