The bigger challenge, however, may be enforcing such laws, if Arizona is any example.
Or maybe they are.
Employers feel heat on immigration
Arizona's new law imposes sanctions – the stiffest in the US – for hiring illegal workers.
By Faye Bowers | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Phoenix
Arizona leads the nation in population growth. More illegal immigrants cross its border than any other in the United States. Now, in an apparent backlash to those trends, the state is leading the charge to halt illegal immigration by cracking down on employers.
Its new law effectively sets up a two-strikes penalty. A business employing an illegal immigrant would have its business license suspended temporarily. A second offense would mean a permanent revocation of that license.
The new law "takes the most aggressive action in the country against employers who knowingly or intentionally hire undocumented workers," says Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), who signed the measure into law late Monday. She said she decided to sign the bill because "Congress has failed miserably."
This get-tough attitude with businesses is growing across the US. As of April, 40 other states had introduced 199 bills related to employment of undocumented workers – the top subject of immigration-related legislation in the states, according to a report for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Although Arizona's new law is apparently the harshest so far, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Tennessee, and West Virginia are still in the process of enacting legislation to force employers to verify their workers' legal status, cautions Dirk Hegen, an expert on immigration policy at NCSL. Now that federal immigration reform has stalled in Congress, more states are likely to act, he adds.
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You know, I read on a conservative site that THIS
was the issue. I had never seen it put so bluntly as to why they (business) was so determined to push the 'Comprehensive' Immigration Bill.
This conservative said that one of the Senators had admitted the truth, but the MSM completely ignored it.
It was because THE STATES ARE TAKING MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.
Business already knew that the Feds were turning a blind eye by not fully funding enforcement. But, state after state, was saying $($* the Feds, we've got to do something, and most people on the ground, don't stop at the illegal alien - they usually ALWAYS wind up at the employer.And business knows that. They can sue, but, come on, what's their defense? We can't be held accountable on the state level because we're not accountable on the federal level? As whacked as things have become...that's no defense.