Raising Arizona Law in Florida? Part I

Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano signed the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) in 2007 to stop employers from hiring people who are not allowed to work in the United States. If a complaint is made, the Arizona attorney general or a county attorney can investigate and ask the federal government about the employee’s status. If the employee is not allowed to work, the attorney must tell the federal immigration officials and local police. The employer can then be punished, including having their business license taken away. Florida’s governor wants to bring a similar law to Florida in 2012. LAWA requires all employers in Arizona to use the federal E-Verify program to check if new hires are allowed to work in the United States. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others sued Arizona, saying that federal law doesn’t allow the state to punish businesses for hiring unauthorized workers or to make them use E-Verify. They lost in the U.S. Supreme Court, which said that federal law didn’t stop Arizona from doing this. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s licensing law in a 5-3 decision. Chief Justice Roberts said that the law falls within the authority Congress left to the states and is not preempted. The law required employers to use the I-9 process and E-Verify to avoid sanctions. However, the law could wrongly accuse foreign workers of being unauthorized to work. Justices Breyer and Sotomayor dissented, saying that the law doesn’t always equate with lack of work authorization. Employers who follow federal I-9 rules can use this as a defense if they’re prosecuted under state immigration laws. The Supreme Court also said that requiring employers to use E-Verify, a system to check if employees are allowed to work in the US, is okay for states to do. Since the Whiting decision, more states have made laws to make sure employers are using E-Verify. Alabama and Arizona both passed tough immigration laws that allow law enforcement to detain and question people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. These laws also require businesses to use E-Verify, a system to check employees’ immigration status. However, there have been legal challenges to these laws, and it’s important for employers to stay informed about the requirements in each state. This is a list of legal cases and laws related to immigration in Arizona, along with a brief bio of Giselle Carson, who is a lawyer practicing in immigration law. She is also involved in the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Jacksonville Bar Association. The article is submitted by the Labor and Employment Law Section.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/raising-arizona-law-in-florida-part-i/