FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 8, 2007               CONTACT: John Reid/Chris Gindlesperger

Chamber Enters Legal Challenge to Constitutionality of Arizona Immigration Law

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today joined a coalition of Arizona associations challenging the constitutionality of a new state law that interferes with federal law that regulates the employment of undocumented workers.

“State and local attempts to regulate the employment of undocumented workers are unconstitutional and preempted by federal law,” said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center which represents the U.S. Chamber in Arizona Contractors Ass’n, et al. v. Napolitano. “Arizona’s statute deserves to be overturned, because it violates employers’ due process rights just like the Hazleton, Pennsylvania immigration ordinance.”

The Arizona law imposes different liability and conflicting sanctions, including the revocation of business licenses, without an opportunity for a hearing, on employers who are deemed to have hired undocumented workers. The state also requires mandatory compliance with the Basic Pilot employment verification system, which is voluntary under federal law.  On July 27, 2007, a federal district court judge struck down as unconstitutional a similar immigration ordinance adopted by the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief successfully challenging the Hazleton ordinance on preemption and due process grounds. 

“The Pennsylvania federal court correctly noted in its opinion that immigration is a national issue,” Conrad said. “The Arizona federal court should do the same and stop the state from undermining well-established federal law regulating employment of immigrants in the United States.”

The National Chamber Litigation Center, the public policy law firm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a membership organization that advocates fair treatment of business in the courts and before regulatory agencies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.
 
NCLC                                                                  

# # #