Arizona SB 1070 Injunction Upheld

The injunction preventing enforcement of several provisions of Arizona’s Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (also known as SB 1070) was upheld in early April by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The controversial law, which compels law enforcement officers to verify the legal status of certain persons reasonably believed to be illegally present in the country, never took effect due to the constitutional concerns cited in the district court injunction issued last July (see the August 2010 issue of the Immigration eAuthority).

For now, Arizona employers must remember that E-Verify participation is still required of Arizona employers under the previously enacted Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA). LAWA was previously challenged in a separate lawsuit and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to review that law’s constitutionality soon. SB 1070 contains a provision that adds the requirement that employers retain E-Verify verification records for the duration of a worker’s employment or three years (whichever is longer). That provision was not challenged in the SB 1070 lawsuit and thus remains in effect even with the injunction. Thus, employers are advised to retain such records until further notice.