Ariz. starts its employer sanctions 'experiment'

Many are watching to see if law affects illegal entry
By Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.01.2008

The rest of the nation will be watching Arizona starting today as a new employer-sanctions law dubbed the nation's toughest and most wide-reaching goes into effect.

Under the Legal Arizona Workers Act, businesses that knowingly hire illegal entrants could face a business-license suspension of up to 10 days on a first offense and lose that license for a second offense.

The law — signed by Gov. Janet Napolitano on July 2 after gaining approval from the Legislature — is the first of its kind in the United States. Tennessee has a similar law that takes effect today, and Oklahoma will implement one in July.

"What Arizona will become is a natural experiment," said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank that advocates for comprehensive immigration changes. "In effect, we will be testing everything we are having an argument about and see if a state can, indeed, regulate immigration by sanctioning employers."

Proponents say the law will force illegal entrants to move elsewhere, reducing the costs incurred by schools, hospitals and the criminal justice system. Opponents counter that it will cripple the Arizona economy by eliminating a valuable work force and result in some employers relocating.