By Howard Fischer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-719505.mp3
San Francisco, CA – Foes of the state's new employer sanctions law asked the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals today to rule the statute, which took
effect January 1st, is illegal. But Arizona Public Radio's Howard
Fischer reports the judges did not appear sympathetic to the
legal arguments.
Jonathan Weissglass argued the federal government has exclusive
power over not just immigration but also the penalties that can
be imposed on companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers.
He said that means the Arizona law which lets a state judge
suspend or revoke a company's business license cannot stand. But
Judge John Walker said the current federal system is, in his
words, ripe with fraud.
(The documents are fraudulent. It's evident that that's the
situation. And so now Arizona wishes to have a better system, a
more effective system for its state. I still don't see how that
can be a problem?)
Weissglass said Arizona can't do that.
(Because it's Congress' decision on how to reform laws governing
the employment of immigrants.)
But Walker wasn't buying it.
(Where does it say that the state's are prohibited from enforcing
employer sanctions?)
The judges did not say when they will rule on the legality of the
law.
In San Francisco, for Arizona Public Radio, this is Howard Fischer.