Canyon Cafe hot line supervisor Jorge Gutierrez fires up an order of pasta primavera at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. The resort has been using the Basic Pilot Program to screen each of its more than 600 employees through a federal database to check their eligibility to work in this country.

Kelly Presnell / Arizona daily star

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Arizona's stiff new employer- sanction law delivered a clear message to companies — hire legal workers or else.

Backing that threat with action, though, will be an arduous task.

The law, which would revoke state licenses for companies that are found to have "knowingly" or "intentionally" hired illegal workers, faces a myriad of hurdles. A lawsuit has already been filed challenging its constitutionality. If it survives that, a host of other logistical issues await.

"It's going to be difficult to figure out exactly what we need to do, and how we need to do this," said Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall. "What is a complaint? What is the burden of proof you need to prove it in court? I'm still not quite sure exactly what an investigation needs to consist of."

Proving a company "knowingly" hired an illegal immigrant will require a strenuous investigation, she said. She plans to hire one investigator to handle complaints and investigations but doesn't know if that will be sufficient.

The legislation's sponsor, Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, doesn't want to hear excuses from county attorneys. The Legislature allocated money to them — including $500,000 for Pima County — to prevent them from having an excuse not to enforce the law, he said.

The law is fair, practical and easy to enforce, not unlike any other law, he said. "If you get a complaint, it's your job to investigate," Pearce said.

In response to concerns about the difficulty in determining "frivolous" and "knowingly," he said, "the county attorney has to use his good sense."

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas agrees with Pearce, calling it feasible to enforce and telling critics he'll listen to their worries but reminding them, "the law is the law, and it will be enforced."

Ed Rheinheimer, Cochise County attorney, said opinions about enforcement are premature. "I'm going to wait and see what comes out on the other end of the constitutional challenge and see what we are left with," he said.

Others agree with LaWall's assessment. The law is riddled with legal problems and county attorneys may not have the time or money to enforce it, said Tibor Nagy, a Tucson labor attorney with Ogletree Deakins, a national employment-law firm.

"There are so many issues and no one has the resources to follow up on this except the most blatant cases," Nagy said.

LaWall said she understands people's frustration about the illegal-immigration problem, but county prosecutors should not be tasked with enforcing immigration law.

"We're not talking about people who have committed crimes here other than the federal crime of coming into this county unauthorized," LaWall said. "My job is to protect the public safety of the people of this county and it's very difficult to have the adequate resources to deal with the murderers, the rapists, the child molesters, the drunk drivers, the armed robbers, the drive-by shooters, the gangbangers. That is my focus."

Among her worries about the new law is a stipulation requiring cases be expedited and hearings scheduled ahead of other criminal cases. She called that "outrageous" and said she's offended by it.

Illegal immigrants are a threat to public safety, Pearce argues. He won't be satisfied until convictions are reached.

"I want businesses to honor the law," he added. "I want to protect legitimate businesses who follow the law from illegitimate businesses who don't follow the law and have an unfair advantage."

Complaints can come from anybody and in any form, such as a phone call or letter, as long as it's based on reasonable evidence, Pearce said. The law includes language to punish false complaints, which will prevent frivolous complaints, he said.

LaWall's office is in the process of formulating plans for how to enforce the law. Some early ideas include posting a complaint form on the county Web site and requiring people to file it at the office and sign an affidavit. The person who filed the complaint would have to be available to answer questions from the investigator.

She wants to make sure complaints are more than a superficial judgment from afar.

"It can't be that somebody comes to us and says, 'there are five Hispanic-looking people at ABC construction company and they all speak Spanish and I think that company's hiring undocumented persons,' " LaWall said. "That's not enough."