Business trade organizations are lining up in support of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of an employer sanctions measure that will become law next year.
The Arizona Farm Bureau, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association have signed on as plaintiffs to the lawsuit, which was filed July 13 by the Arizona Contractors Association and Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform.
Jim Klinker, chief administrative officer for the Farm Bureau, said the employer sanctions program jeopardizes the 77,000 jobs in the state’s agriculture industry.
“It’s set up to fail for an employer,” he said. “It’s got ramifications that the public should step back and understand.”
The Farm Bureau, Klinker says, supports employer sanctions, but only as a part of a comprehensive immigration reform that also addresses border security and a worker visa system. He said H2779 (Laws 2007, Chapter 279) is “flawed” and doesn’t give employers all the necessary tools to ensure illegal immigrants are not hired, but punishes them all the same.
Agriculture industry worried
The law could be especially deleterious in the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on a foreign workforce. Klinker says the proliferation of forged work visas and Social Security cards makes farmers and ranchers vulnerable to sanctions.
“We know full well because of the number of fraudulent documents — even though we’ve followed the law, done the I-9s — we’re dealing with fraudulent documents,” he said. “But we can’t tell that, because we don’t have the tools [to identify them].
“We see this as a Catch-22 for employers.”
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced July 24 it would join the suit. Its board of directors also agreed to a four-part strategy that “acknowledges the public’s desire for immigration reform and yet strives to make improvements to the law,” according to a press release.
However, the organization will not contribute any money to challenge the law and will insist on controlling all interaction with the press.
According to a memo sent to board members and obtained by Arizona Capitol Times, the chamber’s decision to join the lawsuit is “contingent upon an assurance that the chamber will not incur any financial obligations at any point and that the chamber will manage all media associated with the lawsuit.”
Gallardo: Chamber should be ‘ashamed’
One lawmaker says the chamber is showing a lack of leadership by not helping fund the lawsuit.
 “They need to put their money where their mouth is,” House Minority Whip Steve Gallardo, D-13, said. “They should be ashamed of themselves.”
But Glenn Hamer, executive director for the chamber, said the name-identification of the chamber was a valuable contribution.
“I believe having the chamber’s name on the lawsuit is a big deal,” he said, adding funding would still be plentiful. “I’m fairly certain there is going to be plenty of resources to fight this action.”
Julie Pace, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, says the contingencies regarding financial support and media management are separate from the legal challenge.
“They don’t want to be on the hook for the whole cost of the suit,” she said, adding that her understanding is that individual businesses within the chamber will donate money to pay for legal costs.
Pace also dismissed the chamber’s desire to control the publicity for the suit. Instead, she said the chamber merely wants to make sure all of the involved parties are “on the same page.”
“They want to start taking more of a leadership role,” she said. “They know everyone can talk to the media. They want to start getting all the groups out there together in meetings.”
Group wants role in addressing the shortcomings
The chamber also says it hopes to work with other business groups to change the law in either a special or regular legislative session and the chamber will seek to install desired changes mentioned in Gov. Janet Napolitano’s July 2 signing letter for H2779.
In the letter, the governor listed five shortcomings that included the need for an anti-discrimination clause, exemptions for business serving “critical infrastructures,” and budgetary shortfalls for enforcement of the bill.
Additionally, the chamber has announced seminars to educate businesses on how to comply with the sanctions law. The first such “Webinar,” which will be conducted via a teleconference call and online demonstration, was July 26.
The Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association also announced earlier this month it was joining the lawsuit as a plaintiff.