PHOENIX — A federal judge on Friday refused to block the Jan. 1 implementation of an Arizona law that penalizes businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
U.S. District Judge Neil Wake denied requests for a temporary restraining order or an emergency injunction to block the law from taking effect.
Wake said that those who would suffer the most from blocking the law would be legal low-skill workers who lose jobs and get depressed wages because of competition from illegal immigrants.
“Even if the injunction is lifted later, their loss will never be paid back,” he said.
Business interests and other advocacy groups challenging the law already have asked the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an injunction blocking the law. Those requests were filed with appeals of an earlier ruling in which Wake dismissed initial versions of the group’s lawsuits.
Julie Pace, one of the business groups’ lawyers, said attorneys were evaluating whether to take further action in wake of the judge’s latest ruling.
Wake earlier had scheduled a hearing Jan. 16 on the challengers’ request for a preliminary injunction, pending a trial on the law’s constitutionality.
Under the law, employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers can face suspensions of their business licenses for up to 10 days. Repeat violators would have their licenses revoked.
The law mandates that employers use a federal computer system to check Social Security numbers of new hires. While the system would partly shield employers who hire workers later determined to be unauthorized, the law’s opponents say the mandate to use the system is a costly burden.
Supporters contend the law will gradually reduce the economic incentive for many illegal border-crossers.
The challengers contend the state is intruding on the federal government’s responsibility for immigration enforcement and say the law is unfair to both employers and workers.
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