By Julie Murphree, Arizona Farm Bureau
Responding to U.S. District Judge Neil Wake’s December 7 dismissal decision relating to the employer sanctions lawsuit, Arizona Farm Bureau and 11 other plaintiffs filed a new suit December 11 naming the 15 county attorneys, state Attorney General Terry Goddard and state Registrar of Contractors Fidelis V. Garcia as defendants.

The suit challenges the new Legal Arizona Worker Law scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2008. The Arizona Legislature-passed measure was signed into law by Gov. Janet Napolitano just days after Congress dropped the ball on federal immigration reform and is considered one of the toughest state laws in the country without giving employers proper tools to effectively comply with the law.

Days after filing the new lawsuit, plaintiffs also filed an appeal and an emergency motion for an injunction pending the appeal in both the District Court and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to seek an injunction which the appeal is pending. Either court could grant the injunction. As this article goes to press the District Court was expected to rule on the motion for an injunction pending an appeal by December 18. The Ninth Circuit was expect to rule on whether it will issue an emergency injunction to stop the law from going into effect until the appellate court makes a decision. This means that even if the District Court Judge in the second lawsuit denies the TRO requested, as explained below, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could nevertheless rule that the law is stopped from going into effect until the constitutionality issue is adjudicated.

Additionally, Judge Wake held a hearing in late December responding to a request from Arizona Farm Bureau and a coalition of business groups to temporarily block Arizona’s employer-sanctions law from taking effect January 1. As this article went to press, Judge Wake was deliberating on the request.

Under the law, Arizona employers that “knowingly” or “intentionally” employ an unauthorized worker on or after Jan. 1, 2008 could lose their Arizona business licenses. Found guilty once – an employer’s business licenses could be revoked for 10 days. If found guilty twice, an Arizona employer would face permanent license revocation.

In the original suit Judge Wake dismissed, the Court did not uphold the law, but it did dismiss the case without prejudice. The Court’s decision is not a final decision on the merits of the claims and is not a decision on the constitutionality of Arizona’s law.

Arizona Farm Bureau President Kevin Rogers suggests that if the federal government doesn’t resolve the immigration problem that beyond what a state can do, we will have a labor shortage. “Today, we have neither the visas nor appropriate processes to import the legal labor we need,” says Rogers. “The labor supply of the U.S. is inadequate for the health of our economy. Can employers change that? No. Only the federal government can fix this.”

Rogers adds, “Should it be legal? You bet. Again, the federal government can fix this, but it has not. And a major reason is the public’s reaction to arguments based on emotion and fear.”

Some producers call this current situation a perfect storm as they identify both federal and state governments coming down on businesses employment documentation regardless of how effectively the business has vetted their paperwork process to ensure everything is in order. The critical process for agriculturalists is making sure all their employee I-9 forms are in order.

The plaintiffs in the new suit include the Arizona Contractors Association and The Arizona Chamber of Commerce.