Associated Press - High Court Sustains AZ Employer Sanctions Law

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court upheld an Arizona law Thursday that penalizes businesses for hiring workers who are in the United States illegally, rejecting arguments that states have no role in immigration matters.

By a 5-3 vote, the court said that federal immigration law gives states the authority to impose sanctions on employers who hire unauthorized workers.

The ruling cheered supporters of tougher immigration laws who said it would encourage states to take new steps, especially in the employment area.

The decision upholding the validity of the 2007 law comes as the state is appealing a ruling that blocked key components of a second, more controversial Arizona immigration enforcement law. Thursday's decision applies only to business licenses and does not signal how the high court might rule if the other law comes before it.

Still, the ruling placed the court's five Republican appointed justices on the side of the state, and against the Chamber of Commerce, which challenged the law along with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said Arizona's employer sanctions law "falls well within the confines of the authority Congress chose to leave to the states." . . .

. . . .The ACLU's Cecillia Wang said the Supreme Court decision was disappointing, but narrow. "The decision has nothing to do with SB1070 or any other state and local immigration laws," said Wang, director of ACLU's immigrant rights project.

But Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, said the ruling should encourage states to play a larger role in immigration matters.

"While it's not a definitive answer to the main Arizona case, it certainly is a helpful sign from our perspective," Sekulow said. He filed a brief in support of the law that was upheld Thursday. . . .

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