All Eyes on Arizona
The legal effort to block what is widely considered the nation’s toughest law against employers who hire illegal immigrants may be headed for a setback in Arizona after a federal judge said that he was not inclined to stop the law from going into effect Jan. 1.
Judge Neil V. Wake of the Federal District Court in Phoenix said he would issue a ruling by the end of this week.
Opponents say the law is already having an effect, with hundreds of people leaving the state or dismissed from jobs by employers checking federally required documents proving work eligibility. The law’s supporters believe it will help close the door to the flow of migrants that has made Arizona one of the states with the highest and fastest-growing illegal immigrant population.
Businesses across the country will look to Arizona to see just how the state economy may be effected when employers are faced with real sanctions for hiring undocumented labor.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 500,000 undocumented immigrants live in Arizona; among them, approximately 350,000 are working.
A University of Arizona study released earlier this year states economic output would drop 8.2% annually if noncitizen foreign-born workers were removed from the labor force. Researchers estimate about two-thirds of the workers in that category are in the state legally.
For more information, contact Carlos Guttierrez at 800-368-5242 x8279.
[
return to top ]
|
