Free Republic

The Supreme Court has sustained Arizona's law that penalizes businesses for hiring workers who are in the United States illegally, rejecting arguments that states have no role in immigration matters.

Since Arizona's local law enforcement began enforcing illegal immigration laws and an employer sanctions law went into effect, illegal immigrants have been fleeing the state in large numbers. The effects have been far-ranging. Commuters are reporting fewer vehicles on the freeways, shortening their rush-hour commutes. What had become a serious transportation problem in Arizona is losing its urgency. English Learner Language (ELL) students started dropping out of school. This helped end a confrontation between the state legislature and a liberal federal judge who had ordered the state to spend more money on ELL classes.Fewer illegal immigrants are using hospital emergency...

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration said Friday it planned to raise fines significantly for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, part of a broader effort that includes improved border security after Congress failed to pass immigration-related legislation in 2007. The hikes in employer fines would be the first since 1999.... The Homeland Security department has intensified raids on rogue companies in the past three years, prosecuting executives on criminal charges and arresting workers, who often use valid Social Security numbers, for identity theft. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff offered examples Friday of his agency's heightened focus...He cited the human resources...

By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services PHOENIX — Arizona’s new employer sanctions law will take effect as scheduled Jan. 1. On Friday, Judge Neil Wake rejected a request by business groups and others to bar the state from implementing the law while its constitutionality is litigated. And just hours later the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused an emergency request to second-guess Wake and keep the law from being enforced. Julie Pace, one of the lead attorneys representing those challenging the law said that leaves her clients without legal options until at least Jan. 16. That’s when Wake will...

Yesterday's Arizona Republic reported on an interesting phenomenon taking place as a new workplace identification law approaches implementation. Those workers with no documentation -- in other words, illegal aliens -- have begun to sell off their property and leave the state: Undocumented immigrants are starting to leave Arizona because of the new employer-sanctions law. The state's strong economy has been a magnet for illegal immigrants for years. But a growing number are pulling up stakes out of fear they will be jobless come Jan. 1, when the law takes effect. The departures are drawing cheers from immigration hard-liners and alarm...

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) of Missouri: "Until our country gets serious about enforcement against employers, all the laws we pass won't make a difference."

It's a topic often lost in the heated battle over whether to add more border patrol agents, build a bigger fence, or deploy the US military along the border with Mexico. But in the end, most analysts agree, the United States can't stem the flow of illegal immigrants until it resolves to do one thing: punish employers who hire them. [snip]One local businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous, knows firsthand the weaknesses in the enforcement regime. He owned a large landscape business for more than two decades in which he employed up to 300 people at a time, most of...