Because the legal challenge of Arizona’s employer sanctions law will have far-reaching effects, either paving the way for other states to enact similar measures or forcing them to change their strategies, two national business groups have joined in the fight against the local measure.
The United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Roofing Contractors’ Association were chief among the new plaintiffs in an amended complaint filed Aug. 8 in Federal District Court. The official roster of plaintiffs jumped to 12 from two, as a variety of other Arizona organizations added their names to the fight.
Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which also joined the lawsuit, said the decision on the Arizona law — much like a July court ruling striking down a Pennsylvania town’s ordinance that contained similar employer sanctions — will dictate laws in other locales.
“These types of court decisions will set important guideposts for other states looking to implement their own immigration policies,” he said.
Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center representing the U.S. Chamber, said her organization entered the fray because it is concerned other states and cities will follow Arizona’s lead and businesses will be forced to wade through a tangle of different hiring laws, each with different standards and punishments.
“There are a lot of states and municipalities that…are thinking about or are about to pass their own version on requirements for employers hiring foreign-born workers,” she said. “We don’t want this patchwork [of laws] across the country.”
Conrad called the decision to join the Arizona lawsuit “a no-brainer” for the U.S. Chamber, a D.C-based advocacy group that boasts 3 million members. The chamber also filed briefs opposing the Pennsylvania ordinance. Though the ruling in that case is not binding in Arizona, Conrad and other plaintiffs believe overturning the law here will shape other laws around the country.
“I think a similar decision by an Arizona federal court will send an additional message that this is a matter to be handled by the federal government and that any state and local attempts to regulate are pre-empted by federal law,” Conrad said.
Governor: Court will uphold law
Meanwhile, Gov. Janet Napolitano says she believes the sanctions law will be upheld by the court, despite the challenge from the business community that the law is an unconstitutional attempt by the state to regulate immigration.
“I believe, in the end, it will withstand constitutional challenge,” Napolitano said Aug. 8. “If it doesn’t, that’s just further illustration of why the [Bush] administration can’t let this issue go away. We must have federal [immigration] reform.”
The state law takes effect in January and also requires employers to verify the employment eligibility of their workers through a federal database. Violators could face a business license suspension lasting up to 10 days. Second-time violators would have their business licenses revoked permanently.
Though she signed the new rules into law, Napolitano has said the law has flaws that need to be fixed and has suggested that the Legislature tweak it in a special session. She has said the law lacks an anti-discrimination clause to ensure fair enforcement and should have provided exceptions for hospitals, nursing homes and power plants to prevent them from closing as a result of violations.
The governor also said she believes lawmakers should gather feedback about the law from their communities and that her office would likely talk to legislators by early fall about revising the law.
“Let this issue percolate over the summer,” she said.
The Arizona Contractors Association and Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform initially filed the lawsuit July 13 and Arizona Capitol Times previously reported the state Chamber of Commerce, the Arizona Farm Bureau and the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association had agreed to join as plaintiffs, as had Wake Up Arizona!, a coalition of Arizona business owners.
Other local business trade groups now involved in the suit are: the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Associated Minority Contractors of America, the Arizona Roofing Contractors Association and the Arizona Landscape Contractors Association. 
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.