| | |  Business News | December 2008 
Arizona Hiring Law Apprehends None, but is a Deterrent
 Brooke Lorren - Associated Content
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About a year ago, Arizona passed a tough law with huge sanctions against employers who knowingly hired illegal immigrants. Repeatedly failing to follow this law can result in a penalty as severe as the permanent revocation of an employer's business license.
As a result, Arizona has lost a lot of its attraction as a destination for illegal immigrants. Some immigrants have moved out of the state, and some school districts noticed a drop in enrollment after the law was first passed. Across the border in the neighboring Mexican state of Sonora, many people have moved back to Mexico.
Everywhere you go, businesses display posters saying "This Employer Participates In E-Verify". E-Verify is federal program that checks Social Security numbers to ensure that the new hire is eligible to work in the United States. Businesses are not required to use the E-Verify system, but it does protect them from being accused of knowingly hiring undocumented workers.
Recently, The Arizona Republic has reported that this new law has failed to successfully prosecute any businesses for failure to comply with the law. Timothy Allen, the Executive Administrator of HR Wise LLC, a Professional Employer Organization, told me how the new law and E-Verify have helped deter employees from working in this state illegally.
When a new employee is hired, their name and Social Security Number are checked with the E-Verify database. If there is a problem, the system will indicate that the records do not match. Occasionally, someone employed legally will discover this problem with their records; in this case, they are given the chance to appeal the mismatch. An employee who chooses not to appeal the decision is terminated.
In most cases, an employee illegally working in Arizona will decide not to appeal, and will walk off the job and attempt to find employment elsewhere. Mr. Allen has told me that his business sees about one of these cases every month.
The Arizona Republic is reporting that Andrew Thomas, an attorney in Maricopa County, would like to extend the law and give power to issue subpoenas in order to investigate cases where it is believed that the employer is violating the law. Currently, some employers are refusing to release their records or talk to investigators, which makes it more difficult for these companies to be prosecuted.
Although no employer has not been successfully prosecuted under the employer-sanctions law, that doesn't mean that the law has not been effective. Illegal workers are finding it more difficult to find employment in this state, which was the primary purpose of this law.
Sources:
Harris, Craig. "Employers Busted By Hiring Law So Far: 0". The Arizona Republic, 28 December 2008
Interview with Timothy Allen, 29 December 2008. |
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