The opponents of immigration enforcement have stooped to a new low in
Arizona with their latest attempt to undermine the state’s
workplace verification laws. After exhausting their usual tactics, they
are resorting to outright and intentional deception of the voters. This
November, Arizonans will vote on Proposition 202; which will be
described to them as such:
“Stop Illegal Hiring" Act is an initiative designed to crack down
on unethical businesses who hire illegal immigrants. This initiative
targets employers who hire workers and pay under-the-table in cash,
which fuels illegal immigration in Arizona. It revokes the business
license of employers who knowingly or intentionally hire illegal
immigrants. This initiative increases penalties for identity theft, as
illegal immigrants often use stolen identities to conceal their
undocumented status…
If this were all I knew about Prop 202, I’d wholeheartedly
support it; and the initiative backers are hoping that voters
won’t learn anything about the initiative beyond the title.
Arizona does not need a new law against illegal hiring. It already has
the toughest workplace enforcement law in the country. The Legal
Arizona Workers Act (“LAWA”), which was enforced in the
beginning 2008, is the first state law to require all employers to use
the E-Verify worker identification system. E-Verify is a nearly fool
proof electronic data-base system that makes sure an job applicant is
here legally. Arizonans on both sides of the immigration issue agree
that the law has had a huge impact in keeping employers from hiring
illegal aliens and, in turn, causing the illegals to leave the state.
The Stop Illegal Hiring Act effectively overturns Arizona’
current employer sanction laws. It completely removes the E-Verify
requirement that was central to the success of LAWA. It forbids Arizona
from acting against employers until the federal government does so
first, but it’s the federal government’s failure to act
that makes the law necessary in the first place. On top of all this, it
gives amnesty to employers of illegal aliens, and bans whistleblowers
from alerting the authorities to illegal hiring.
The importance of preserving laws such as LAWA cannot be
underestimated. During my ten years in Congress I have fought in vain
to get the federal government to take action against illegal
immigration. States and localities, however, have had a great deal of
success in cracking down on illegal immigration. From small towns like
Hazelton, PA and Farmers Branch, TX to states like Georgia, Oklahoma,
and my home state of Colorado; patriotic citizens and legislators have
taken action when the government refuses to do its duty. As the illegal
immigrants leave states that get tough, they bring pressure on
neighboring states and the federal government to take action as well.
Arizona has been in the vanguard of this movement. It passed Prop 200
in 2004, which took away many taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens; and
then passed four other initiatives that got tough on illegal
immigration in 2006 with well over 70% of the vote.
Usually the pro-immigration groups try to overturn the will of the
people in the courts. With both the Arizona and Greater Phoenix
Chambers of Commerce as well as heavily funded left wing legal outfits
like the ACLU and Mexican American Legal Defense Fund as plaintiffs,
and government executives who are often just as eager to have the laws
overturned charged with defending them; any state law against illegal
immigration immediately faces an uphill legal battle.
The business lobby tried this tactic with both Proposition 200 and then
with LAWA, but after the most left wing Federal Appeals Court in the
country upheld the law, their last resort is outright deception of the
voter. With little fanfare, a business group called Wake Up
Arizona—who were one of the primary plaintiffs against the
current employer sanction laws—have managed to sneak the
misleading initiative on the ballot.
Recent polls show that when given the title of the act and the
misleading description, voters would support Prop 202 by a margin of 2
to 1. However, when explained that it guts the enforcement mechanisms
in LAWA, voters oppose Prop 202 by 5 to 1.
If there was ever a case of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, this is
it. Even citizens who oppose LAWA should be outraged by how dishonest
and undemocratic the tactics used by Wake Up Arizona.
Unfortunately, Arizonans who want their laws against illegal hiring
preserved do not have multimillion dollar legal groups to try to keep
the proposition off the ballot. The only hope is to educate the voters
before they go to the polling booths that if they want to stop illegal
hiring, they need to vote no on Prop 202, the Stop Illegal Hiring Act.
