[Marxism] Civil Rights coalition Files New Lawsuit Challenging Arizona Employer Sanctions Law

[Greg McDonald <sabocat59@xxxxxxx>]

Background at: http://online.wsj.com/article/ 
SB119760108815428771.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news

Below, another one of those pesky white-settler enclave groups tries  
to muddy the water.


Civil Rights Coalition Files New Lawsuit Challenging Arizona Employer  
Sanctions Law (12/12/2007)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@xxxxxxxx; (212) 549-2666

PHOENIX – A coalition of civil rights groups filed a new lawsuit in a  
Phoenix federal court today charging that the so-called Legal Arizona  
Workers Act unlawfully requires businesses to participate in a flawed  
work authorization verification database, lacks due process  
protections, improperly threatens businesses with a “business death  
penalty” that interferes with federal law, and would lead to  
discrimination against workers who are perceived as being foreign born.

An earlier lawsuit challenging Arizona’s employer sanctions law was  
filed in September by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of  
Arizona, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the Mexican  
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and the law  
firm of Altshuler Berzon. Last Friday the U.S. District Court  
dismissed the case without ruling on the legality of the law. The  
coalition expects that today’s filing, brought by the coalition on  
behalf of Valle del Sol, Chicanos Por La Causa and Somos America,  
will address the court’s procedural concerns and allow the court to  
rule on its legal claims.

"If this law goes into effect, American workers could lose their jobs  
and Arizona businesses could be shut down," said ACLU Immigrants’  
Rights Project attorney Omar Jadwat. "The Arizona law would encourage  
employers to fire workers based on erroneous database discrepancies,  
and to avoid hiring workers who are perceived to be foreign born."

The Act, which is scheduled to take effect January 1, introduced a  
new state law that regulates employment based on work authorization  
status – even though there is a comprehensive federal law on the same  
topic. The law unlawfully seeks to impose sanctions far beyond what  
the federal government allows by completely closing down any business  
that, according to the state, has committed two violations in a three- 
year period and fails to provide any meaningful opportunity to  
contest the application of its penalties. In addition, the Act  
requires all Arizona businesses to check their employees’ work  
authorization status by using the flawed federal Basic Pilot program  
(recently renamed e-Verify).

The Basic Pilot/e-Verify system, which the federal government  
established as a voluntary, experimental, and temporary system to  
test the concept of electronic employee verification, is rife with  
errors and frequently leads to problems for lawful workers. An  
official evaluation found that one in ten non-citizens who are  
legally authorized to work is initially categorized by Basic Pilot/e- 
Verify as ineligible. Foreign born workers, including naturalized  
citizens, are more than 30 times more likely than native-born U.S.  
citizens to be incorrectly identified as ineligible. Because of these  
and other concerns with Basic Pilot/e-Verify, Congress has repeatedly  
refused to make the system permanent or mandatory; instead, the  
program is set to expire in November 2008.

Today’s lawsuit was filed against Arizona Attorney General Terry  
Goddard, Director of the Arizona Department of Revenue Gale Garriott  
and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Lawyers on the case include Jonathan Weissglass, Stephen Berzon and  
Rebecca Smullin of Altshuler Berzon LLP; Kristina Campbell and  
Cynthia Valenzuela of MALDEF; Linton Joaquin, Monica T. Guizar and  
Karen C. Tumlin of NILC; Daniel Pochoda of the ACLU of Arizona;  
Jadwat, Lucas Guttentag and Jennifer C. Chang of the ACLU Immigrants'  
Rights Project.

More information on the case, Valle del Sol v. Goddard, is available  
online at:
www.aclu.org/immigrants/discrim/32748res20071114.html

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