ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Forty-seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1216
employment; illegal aliens; employer sanctions
Purpose
Prohibits an employer from knowingly hiring an illegal alien.
Background
The Federal Immigration Reform and Control Act makes all U.S. employers responsible for verifying the identity and work authorization of all individuals, including U.S. citizens, hired after November 6, 1986. To implement this law, employers are required to complete Employment Eligibility Verification forms (I-9 Form) for each employee when hired.
I-9 Forms are divided into two sections. The first section must be filled out and signed by the employee. For the second section, the employer is required to personally review the original document(s) provided by the employee from a list of acceptable documents, establishing the employee’s identity and eligibility to work. The employer must accept documents that reasonably appear on their face to be genuine and to relate to the person presenting them. The employer is then required to complete the second section, attesting to the document(s) presented. When an employer signs the I-9 Form, they are attesting to the fact that the employer has reviewed the original document and that it reasonably appears to him or her, upon reasonable inspection of its features and the information it contains, to be genuine and to relate to the employee who has presented it for employment eligibility verification purposes. Signage by the employer does not attest to the legitimacy of the status of the person presenting the documents. Employers are prohibited from requesting that an employee present more or different documents than required and cannot specify which document(s) to present.
I-9 Forms must be retained for three years after the date the person begins work or one year after the person’s employment is terminated, whichever is later. Employers are required to make the I-9 Form available for inspection to an officer of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Labor and/or the Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel for Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices.
Penalties exist for employers that are found to have knowingly hired or knowingly continued to employ an illegal immigrant or have failed to comply with employment eligibility verification requirements, including monetary penalties and imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offense.
S.B. 1216 prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal aliens and requires the Attorney General to enforce the prohibition and may impose civil penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation. According to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee fiscal note for S.B. 1216, the impact to the state General Fund associated with this measure cannot be determined with certainty. There is a potential fiscal impact related to increased caseloads for prosecution of employers who knowingly hire an illegal alien. However, the bill could have broader consequences to both state revenues and expenditures due to the effect the bill could have on illegal immigration, which cannot be determined in advance.
Provisions
1. Prohibits an employer from knowingly hiring an illegal alien.
2. Defines “illegal alien” as any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and who is unlawfully present or unlawfully residing in the United States.
3. Requires the Attorney General to enforce the prohibition.
4. Allows a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation of hiring an illegal alien to be imposed by the Attorney General.
5. Deposits any civil penalties collected into the state General Fund.
6. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
February 13, 2006
BP/LH/ac