States' Regulation of Foreign Workers is Arguably Unconstitutional
Posted Aug 17, 2007
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An Arizona statute which regulates employment of undocumented foreign workers is receiving national attention, as its constitutionality is going to be challenged in federal court. The National Chamber Litigation Center, the public policy law firm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, represents the Chamber of Commerce in the lawsuit and is going to argue that immigration is a purely federal matter so that states cannot regulate it. The lawsuit, Arizona Contractors Association v Napolitano, was brought by a coalition of Arizona associations. The National Chamber Litigation Center is going to present an argument that the statute in question "deserves to be overturned, because it violates employers' due process rights."
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Immigration is a Purely Federal Issue
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The Arizona statute challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce may soon join a number of other states' statutes already been struck down that attempted to regulate employment of foreign workers. The state statutes are not being allowed to stand, mainly because immigration is supposed to be regulated by the federal government and not by individual states. As was reported in our August 3, 2007 MurthyBulletin article, Court Strikes Hazelton Municipal Ordinances Against Immigrants, a federal judge of the central Pennsylvania district struck down ordinances in the town of Hazleton in Pennsylvania on July 26, 2007. The ordinances provided for harsh punishment for undocumented foreign nationals and employers and landlords who provide them with homes and jobs.
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The Role of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports legal challenges to the constitutionality of various state and municipal laws that regulate employment of foreign workers. In the case of the town of Hazleton, the Chamber submitted an amicus brief successfully challenging the validity of the ordinances. In the present case, the Chamber took a more proactive approach, actually representing a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
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Conclusion
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The regulation of employment of foreign workers is a federal matter. Under the U.S. Constitution, no individual states are allowed to take control over employers and their foreign employees. As more and more state statutes and municipal ordinances are being struck down, it is becoming clear, once again, that immigration is to be controlled on a federal level. If the states want greater enforcement, then they need to put pressure on the federal government to do so. The federal government has, in fact, recently stepped up efforts in workplace enforcement.