Real Property

“State law employer sanctions has certainly had an effect on local businesses. This, added to the crisis we are living other sectors such as construction, is affecting everyone,” said James E. Efe Garcia, spokesman for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Arizona (AZHCC, in English).

He said that experts in different areas are currently studying the effect of this legislation and other anti-illegal immigration have had in Arizona and the results will be presented in a study next year.

“Apply this type of law has a very high cost, money that should be used for other purposes,” he added Garcia.

The measure, which aims to discourage illegal immigration, took effect in January 2008 and awarded millions of dollars to each county to investigate such cases.

To date, nine of the fifteen counties in Arizona have not spent the money received as they have received few or no complaints about possible violations of state law.

But a very different picture was living in Maricopa County, where sits the state capital, Phoenix, where Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, have joined forces in a frontal fight against illegal immigration .

According to statistics of these units, the 2.86 million dollars received to investigate and apply this law have already been spent almost entirely.

Thomas”s office said more than half was used to pay ten staff members, including seven lawyers, who were responsible for investigating cases related to identity theft and other crimes related to illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, Arpaio said his office has invested funds to investigate allegations of possible violations of the employer sanctions law and pay the salaries of six officers, one sergeant and several rental cars.

Statistics provided by the state Legislature show that in the nearly two years he has been in force the Act have been granted nearly five million dollars for implementation in statewide.

Since its entry into force have been reported over 300 arrests in Maricopa County, most of them undocumented workers on charges of identity theft or use of false documents, and of which 105 were handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation.

No business owner has been fined for hiring illegal immigrants and it was not until last November that Attorney Thomas asked a judge to suspend the license for ten days of operations of a furniture manufacturer.

The case is in court and if found guilty, the factory Scottsdale Art Factory could be the first to be sanctioned under state law.

Both Thomas and Arpaio defended the implementation of the legislation, claiming to have servec66d their purpose to fight against immigration illegal employment and sources.

“In Arizona the undocumented population has dropped by 30 percent in the past two years, did not think it was a coincidence that this happened after state law was implemented employer sanctions, “Thomas said Efe quoting a study by the Center for Immigration Studies.