The U.S. Supreme Court on May 26 upheld a 2007 Arizona immigration law that requires employers to verify the legal status of their workers using the federal government’s voluntary E-Verify program and permits the state to revoke operating licenses from businesses that knowingly hire employees who are unauthorized to work in the United States.
The law had been contested by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others who argued that federal immigration law, which makes the E-Verify program voluntary, preempted the state statute. Opponents also argued that although federal immigration policy allows states to enact licensing rules, Arizona’s law is invalid because it revokes licenses but does not grant them, making it an impermissible employer sanction rather than an actual licensing system.
The ruling will likely encourage state efforts to increase employer participation in E-Verify and punish employers for hiring illegal workers. It may also create momentum in Congress, where several bills have been introduced to strengthen E-Verify and expand the number of employers required to use it. Current law only requires firms to use E-Verify to check the status of employees who work on federal contracts.
On June 6, in light of its decision in the Arizona case, the Court ordered the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to reconsider its 2010 ruling that blocked a Hazleton, Pa., ordinance from being enforced that would fine apartment operators for renting to undocumented individuals and revoke business licenses from employers that hire them