County Attorney Files Expert’s Report in Employer Sanctions Suit

Analysis Indicates That Proper Enforcement of Law Should Result in Improved Wages

The County Attorney’s Office announced today that it has filed a response and supporting expert analysis to a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the Legal Arizona Workers Act with the United States District Court in Phoenix. County Attorney Andrew Thomas is named as one of the defendants in the case.

The act, commonly known as the employer-sanctions law, went into effect on January 1, 2008. It authorizes the county attorney to seek the suspension and, ultimately, revocation of the business license of an employer who knowingly or intentionally hires an illegal immigrant.

The County Attorney’s Office released a 42-page expert report that it also filed today with the federal district court in support of its pleading. Entitled “Labor Market Consequences of Unauthorized Aliens in Arizona,” the report is authored by Dr. George Borjas, a Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, as well as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The analysis by Dr. Borjas, one of the nation’s leading authorities on the effects of illegal immigration on the American economy, demonstrates that enforcement of the employer-sanctions law will help to protect and potentially increase wages in Arizona, especially among lower-skilled workers. Dr. Borjas reports that the employment of unauthorized workers has depressed wages in Arizona by nearly $1.4 billion, and has reduced the earnings of low-skilled authorized workers in Arizona by 4.7%.

Thomas stated, “This economic analysis concludes that the employer-sanctions law, if properly enforced, will help protect and potentially raise the wages of Arizonans, particularly working-class Arizonans.”

The full report can be viewed here.

For more information contact:
Mike Anthony Scerbo, Public Information Officer
(602) 506-3170 (office) or (602) 489-6913 (cell)