Jim Klinker

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Employer sanctions is a federal issue that requires a congressional solution. The Congress has failed to act and that has frustrated the public, our state's policymakers and Arizona's employers.

But frustration is no reason to burden Arizona's businesses with a law that provides no new tools to help employers hire legal workers, that will be selectively enforced and that will encourage discrimination. We are disappointed that the governor signed HB 2779, which takes effect in less than six months.

We, as law-abiding employers, support securing the border. Farmers and ranchers located on the Mexican border see the death of men, women and children who attempt to cross, the drug and human cargo runners who tear through our land and the property and environmental damage being done because of an insecure border.

Literally, Arizona agriculture is on the front line of this battle. We were there long before today's Minutemen.

We as law-abiding employers support employer sanctions. But we need to be able to determine which workers are legally in this country. If the government asks me to be an immigration policeman, it must provide me adequate tools to do that.

The governor said it best in her letter to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid referencing HB 2779's mandate that Arizona employers use the federal Basic Pilot Program, or BPP, in verifying employment: "The BPP currently accommodates fewer than 15,000 businesses nationwide. With this new state mandate, Arizona will add 130,000-150,000 new businesses to the BPP, which could strain the system."

The governor, rightly so, is asking these congressional leaders to make sure the BPP can handle this new load and add funding "to modernize and perfect the system." She recognizes that the BPP is not ready for prime time.

It is not realistic to think Congress will fix the BPP before Jan. 1, so Arizona employers can be confident that they are hiring legal workers and will not run afoul of this new law.

The governor is concerned that the new law provides no protection from discrimination. She is right on two fronts. There will be discrimination against brown-skinned workers by employers and selective enforcement by law enforcement against businesses that employ brown-skinned workers.

The current worker visa system is drowning in fraudulent documents. Employers will be tempted to be more selective in hiring if there is any suspicion in the authenticity of an employee's documents. Employers are not to discriminate, but again, there is no adequate tool to help employers make these decisions.

The governor states that certain businesses, like hospitals and utility companies, should be protected from being shut down because of "a single wrongful employment decision." Is it right to shut down a family restaurant, family farm or family dry cleaner for a "single wrongful employment decision"?

The repercussions of being shut down for 10 days on a first offense does not just impact the small-business owner. It impacts their legal workers, their suppliers and their local community. This is too high a penalty to pay for "a single wrongful employment decision," especially when today, there is no sure-fire tool for an employer to use to verify the legitimacy of presented documents.

If hospitals and utility companies, which have human-resources departments and a battery of attorneys, cannot depend on this verification system, how does anyone expect a small-business owner to comply?

The governor has it right when she intends to call the Legislature back into session to resolve the problems with HB 2779. I hope her call is not so limited that the law remains an unworkable solution for Arizona employers and all the employees who work in those businesses.