Supreme Court upholds employer sanctions in Arizona immigration law

Source: Raw Story

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an Arizona law punishing businesses that hire undocumented workers is constiutional.

In their 5-3 ruling, the court rejected the notion that states have no role in immigration matters.

The decision comes as this high court is prepared to hear arguments on an even more controversial Arizona law that would give police officers the power to check the immigration status of suspected criminals.

The 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act, also known as the "employer sanctions law," forces businesses to use the federal government's E-Verify program. The law threatens Arizona employers with the permanent loss of their business license if they knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Opponents argued that the state law was in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution because the federal government has exclusive authority over immigration enforcement.



Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/26/supreme-court-upholds-employer-sanctions-in-arizona-immigration-law/

This law does not invade the authority of the federal government with regard to immigration enforcement. It imposes a state licensing requirement not on the immigrant but on the employer.

by punishing the professional exploiters in the corporate world and shady run businesses that encourage illegal immigration.

for the idea I've touted here for a while as a way to control illegal immigration. Since the states have the power to decree what constitutes legal proof of deductable expenses in computing one's taxes, simply disallowing deductions for wages not proven to be paid to workers legally here would be the next step.

It takes more effort for the state to prove that a business intends to hire illegal workers than it does to put the burden on businesses to justify the wages they pay with e-Verify.