Supreme Court backs Arizona immigration law that punishes businesses

I couldn't see what the issue was. businesses aren't supposed to hire illegal immigrants, we all know that. they should get in trouble for breaking rules...

but then I read this part:

Arizona passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act in 2007, allowing the state to suspend the licenses of businesses that "intentionally or knowingly" violate work-eligibility verification requirements. Companies would be required under that law to use E-Verify, a federal database to check the documentation of current and prospective employees. That database had been created by Congress as a voluntary, discretionary resource.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that federal law prohibits Arizona and other states from making E-Verify use mandatory. The group was supported by a variety of civil rights and immigration rights groups. The state countered that its broad licensing authority gives it the right to monitor businesses within its jurisdiction.

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most of the issues in the article are around making this system mandatory and who will have the responsibility and burden and cost.

I was thinking it was a moral issue.

Good. Frankly, I hope all the illegal immigrants do leave the state of Arizona. Then Arizonans can find out how much it costs to pay an American to do those jobs instead and how much it raises their prices. And they can be satisfied when businesses close and people lose their jobs due to the customer base shrinking.

Be careful what you wish for.

It's good news, I think, for the question of states' rights. And I feel creepy saying that sentence, because I'm not a 'states' rights' person like many people who like to drop that term!

The one that got me was the question of preventing damage in the gulf states during the oil spill. The federal government can make you not try things to protect your land? Huh?

Illegal immigration can be similar, I think, because of local economic (including tax) concerns and human rights problems. But it can also be frought with civil rights issues, of course, so I'm not at all against a federal role there. I just think that the federal government shouldn't get complete control of many issues.

I wish states were allowed to try creative work visa solutions, for example. Something. There is too much human abuse when things are illegal and ignored by government. The bad guys are allowed to make the rules too often when that happens, imho. I prefer a system that includes the ability to regulate what things are going on.

sonyablue said:

Good. Frankly, I hope all the illegal immigrants do leave the state of Arizona. Then Arizonans can find out how much it costs to pay an American to do those jobs instead and how much it raises their prices. And they can be satisfied when businesses close and people lose their jobs due to the customer base shrinking.

Be careful what you wish for.

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This argument always makes me wonder. It's as if people are applauding the exploitation of illegal immigrants in order to keep the local economy stable.

shadowwalker said:

This argument always makes me wonder. It's as if people are applauding the exploitation of illegal immigrants in order to keep the local economy stable.

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I don't think it's that - it's that very often people don't consider the unintended consequences of what they are advocating. People scream and shout about "illegals" and how awful they are and how they should all just go back to where they came from, as if the moment they leave, all of their area's problems will simply disappear. In fact, if they are worried about their economy and such, forcing all of the illegal immigrants out will probably just make things worse.

I'm not advocating for or against anything in regards to illegal immigration, but I am saying that people should be careful what they wish for.

As long as poor mexicans make three times as much picking vegetables in Arizona as they do tending their own plots in the Sierra Madres, you will have people crossing the border.

It's never that simple. For the poor mexicans, the exploitation conditions in Arizona can actually be an improvement of their lot. These kinds of laws only increases the desperation south of the border, and moves the problems to other border states.

The opinions of the Court: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-115.pdf

This portion of the Arizona code was held to be constitutional by the Ninth Circuit, no? I can't see how this is much of a surprise.

Me, I'm a bit surprised it was 5-3. The dissenting opinions are--imo--pitifully weak, here.