November 10, 2009

Supreme Court Seeks Solicitor General's Opinion on Arizona Employer Sanctions Law

On November 2, 2009, the U.S. Supreme court invited the Solicitor General to file a brief on whether a controversial Arizona state law providing for sanctions against employers guilty of hiring unauthorized workers and requiring the use of E-Verify violates federal law, thus opening the door for the Obama Administration to formally weigh in on the issues.

The legislation at the heart of the controversy is the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA), which authorizes the Arizona state government to suspend or revoke the business licenses of employers found to have knowingly hired undocumented workers and makes the use of the Federal government’s voluntary employment verification database program (E-Verify) mandatory for all employers as of January 1, 2008. This legislation prompted litigation by a coalition of community development and business associations across multiple industries including Chicanos Por La Causa, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation and the Arizona Landscape Contractors Association. The coalition argues that the license suspension and revocation sanctions imposed by LAWA are preempted by federal immigration law, namely the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), given that LAWA’s sanctions are harsher than IRCA’s provisions for monetary sanctions, and that they conflict with the anti-discrimination intent of the IRCA by encouraging employer discrimination.

The Court’s recent request came after plaintiffs in the case of Chamber of Commerce v. Candelaria filed a writ of certiorari when the legality of LAWA was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In its petition to the Court, plaintiffs stressed the urgency of the need for the Court’s review in this matter, analogizing the differing immigration-related laws being passed by the states to a “crazy quilt” that will continue to invite litigation and confusion among employers and employees. They further argue that there is currently a circuit split among the different courts as to how to handle this type of legislation thus necessitating a statement of uniformity by the Court. The Arizona government argues that no such split exists and that the Plaintiffs are attempting to have the Court involved in matters reserved for Congress.

To read more on LAWA and how it grants unprecedented immigration enforcement authority to a state, visit our previous News Flash and GT Alert.