Arizona E-Verify

The “Fair and Legal Employment Act” (HB 2779) requires all businesses to enroll in E-Verify to determine the employment eligibility of new hires. Employers who have failed to enroll in E-Verify after the law’s effective date– January 1, 2008– risk the loss of their business license, whether or not they have actually hired anyone after that date.

If found to be in violation of this law, violators will be subjected to a three- to five-year probationary period during which the employer will be required to file quarterly reports. A business license can be suspended for ten days or more. For a second violation, a license can be revoked permanently.

Enrollment in E-Verify does not provide absolute “safe harbor,” but can be a mitigating factor in the event that an employer is alleged to have employed a non-work authorized individual. If the employer can show that it complied, in good faith, with federal law regarding the verification of new hires, it may be exempt from prosecution under this law.

The “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” Arizona SB1070, is one of the toughest anti-immigration laws in the United States. The new Arizona law allows police officers to ask about the immigration status of any person based upon “reasonable suspicion.” The statute also prohibits local governments from adopting any policies that require or allow less than full enforcement of the immigration laws, thus prohibiting so-called sanctuary provisions. The statute also makes it illegal to solicit workers, often called day laborers.