Employer Sanctions and Law of Unintended Consequences

Here is an interesting article that gives details about the funding of the new employer sanctions law passed by the Arizona Legislature. I will give you one guess about whether our legislature properly funded the bill. Of course not... I know that many of you out there are against the legislation and I am frankly not sure myself, but here is the problem. Uneven enforcement of this type of law is worse than no enforcement especially in the hands of our good friend Andrew "I am nut" Thomas.

Here is the problem as I see it. Many businesses rightly or wrongly rely on immigrant labor. They are not likely to change their business practices without fear of a likely enforcement action. Imagine you own a business that relies on inexpensive labor to be competitive, you face a choice: comply with the law and see your business become less competitive or ignore the law and gamble on the lack of enforcement.

The lack of funding also sets the scene for selective enforcement. Imagine you live in a place where the Sheriff and the County Attorney care more about publicity than actual law enforcement. Add a County Attorney that wants to run for higher office. Mix in a couple of million dollars for enforcement of a law that affects 10% of our workforce and what is a likely outcome? A few unfortunate people (probably running small businesses) will feel the brunt of the law, will be marched out in front of the cameras (while the biggest offenders in the Wall Street Journal wing of the Republican Party laugh at the poor suckers without connections) and in the end, the law will not change behavior in any significant way.

It just goes to show that most Arizona Republicans are all flash and no substance...