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SOUTHERN ARIZONA ENDODONTICS I NSURANCE PROCESSOR Dental Apache Dental Porcelain Techs General Prestige Maintenance USA Area Manager Technical Yavapai College Analyst Banner Programmer Health Care Freedom Manor Caregivers Education Yavapai College Teachers Retail TOTAL WINE & MORE WINE TEAM MEMBERS, CASHIER & STOCK MEMEBERS Tucson RegionNapolitano: Illegal-hire bill can be fixed Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.19.2007
PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano is brushing aside complaints by some businesses of financial ruin if a new employer sanctions law takes effect.
"There's a lot of predictions of doom and gloom," the governor said Wednesday. But Napolitano said she does share all of those concerns.
She also said if there are problems they can be fixed. In fact, she already has a list of changes she believes the Legislature should make before the law takes effect Jan. 1.
The governor also sought to downplay the criticism she is getting for signing the law. Most recently a group organized as Wake Up Arizona said the flaws in the measure are so obvious that she should have vetoed it.
But Napolitano said it would be wrong to intimate her decision to sign the bill has put her at odds with the entire business community.
"There are others who have been in contact with my office who have said we want the bill because we feel like we've been having to compete unfairly with those who are hiring illegally," she said.
The new law says a business license can be suspended for up to 10 days if a company knowingly hires just one illegal entrant. A second violation within three years puts the firm out of business.
Foes have questioned the idea of making businesses responsible for what they see as the failure of the federal government to secure the border. But they also foresee more practical problems.
One is that a company's human resource officer, acting alone, could decide to hire someone not in this country legally. That would put everyone at the firm out of work at least temporarily — if not permanently.
"They're making the arguments," she said. "But they need to be making those arguments to the Legislature."
And what of her own role in signing the law?
"We're going to be implementing or monitoring implementation of this very carefully," she responded, suggesting the statute always can be amended.
One change Napolitano already is seeking would exempt firms that provide essential services like utilities, hospitals and nursing homes. She also wants more money to cover investigative costs by prosecutors and a provision spelling out that the law must be applied without discrimination.
Napolitano, an attorney, refused to say directly whether the state law is an unconstitutional infringement on the power of the federal government to regulate both immigration and who can legally work in this country. A lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court, also alleges other legal flaws.
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