Fraudulent Arizona Prop. 202 Would Enable, Not Stop, Illegal Hiring

Friday, October 24, 2008, 2:33 PM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

An initiative on the Arizona ballot for November 4 – Proposition 202 or the so-called Stop Illegal Hiring Act – does the exact opposite of what it claims. It would gut Arizona's strong employer sanctions law and allow illegal-alien employers to return to "business as usual." Should this state initiative pass, it will have adverse national implications. The group Vote No on Prop. 202 is raising funds to oppose this fraud on the voters.

The idea behind Prop. 202 is ingenious from an open-borders perspective – propose and heavily underwrite passage of an initiative that sounds like it would be tough on illegal-alien hiring but would accomplish the exact opposite. State Rep. Russell Pearce, the author of Arizona’s current law and one of the leading opponents of Prop. 202, says the initiative would:

• Abolish the mandatory use of E-Verify for workplace eligibility verification (the very reason why Arizona’s law is effective);

• Exempt thousands of Arizona employers from the law;

• Require all complaints regarding possible employer violations to be written and signed (stops employee whistleblowers from submitting anonymous tips);

• Preclude Arizona from sanctioning an employer until after the Federal government has taken action (Arizona’s law was necessary because of Federal inaction);

• Establish a "non-rebuttable" presumption of innocence if an employer uses either the fraud-ridden I-9 employment form or the bulletproof E-Verify system (gives amnesty to employers who cheat using the I-9); and

• Impose an impossible standard of proof (high-level managers who are not company officers or owners could hire illegal aliens with impunity, and would not face any enforcement).

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who is renowned for his opposition to illegal immigration, also opposes Prop. 202. Click here to read a blistering article he wrote about it in Human Events online on October 23.

Prop. 202 is being sponsored by the big business and other open-border groups that opposed passage of the state’s employer sanctions laws by the state legislature and subsequently fought them in the courts. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s web site, Prop. 202’s largest sponsor is Wake Up Arizona, which contributed $573,830 or 77% of total revenues raised to date. The group’s web site claims it is “a coalition of Arizonans concerned about the unintended consequences of the state's new employer sanctions law.”

No Wake Up Arizona members are identified on its web site, but NumbersUSA has learned that Marion “Mac” Magruder is one of its key players. Magruder owns several Phoenix McDonalds franchises. He also contributed $9,500 of his own money to Prop. 202.

Secretary of State records indicate the following entities also contributed to Prop. 202:

$25,000          Western Growers, Irvine, Calif.;

$9,500            Arizona Farm Bureau, Higley, Ariz.;

$9,500            Arizona McDonalds Operators Association, Phoenix, Ariz.;

$3,000            Lenny Rosenberg, Self-Employed Restaurant Owner, Phoenix, Ariz.;

$2,500            Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, Tucson, Ariz.;

$2,500            Pasquinelli Produce, Yuma, Ariz.; and

$1,000            Arizona Nursery Association, Tempe, Ariz.

These industries are notorious for employing cheap illegal labor. By supporting Prop. 202, they are trying to accomplish what they could not in the state legislature and courts – the nullification of Arizona’s strong illegal immigration reduction law. Please spread the word and help defeat this fraudulent initiative.