For those of us who worked with the construction, hospitality and service industries during the time that Arizona’s employer sanctions law was so hotly debated, the wounds may still be fresh.  However, most other Arizonans, and Americans for that matter, have moved on.

You may recall the demonstrations, threatened boycotts, and claims of economic upheaval all resulting from Arizona’s landmark 2007 law that penalizes employers for hiring illegal immigrants.  While impassioned pleas were made on both side of the issue, the law went into effect and the Arizona economy did not collapse – at least as a result of the law.

Many Arizona businesses were forced to change their hiring processes, some lost employees, and still others discovered that nothing changed.  The reality is that the severe economic recession with which we are currently dealing caused those industries most impacted by the law to cease hiring new employees – the most obvious of which is construction and hospitality.  The construction and hospitality industries contracted so severely during the past few years that the law had little impact and thus, fell from Arizona’s collective conscious.

This week, we were informed that the law will be reviewed by the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court.  The United States Solicitor General’s office has asked the court to review the law which has been upheld in lower courts on a number of occasions. 

It is not known, but highly unlikely, that the law would have been reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court absent a request by the Solicitor General.  The consensus among legal pundits is that the law is being reviewed in an effort to test the preverbal “temperature” of the Court on immigration issues considering the lingering and upcoming legal challenges that will be made to Arizona’s newest immigration law, SB 1070.

We are an organization focusing on IT support .  Do we and others in our industry care about these laws?  Should we care?  Does it affect us?  The answer is a resounding “maybe”.  We specialize in supporting the IT infrastructure for construction and construction related companies.  They most assuredly have already seen an impact from the law.  However, when the construction world rebounds – and trust us, it will – the law’s true impact will then be witnessed.

But apart from the construction, hospitality and service industry worlds, will these immigration laws impact the rest of us – particularly the IT support industry?  We have not yet personally witnessed a negative impact.  However, Arizona is a quickly becoming a Mecca for the placement of datacenters.  We must be acutely aware that businesses may follow the example being set by many cities and communities by refusing to house their technology and data here.

If and when companies refuse to do business with Arizona technology companies, the IT support industry will certainly begin to care.  It is human nature to take a greater interest in political topics when they directly impact our wallet.  We may try to pretend that we will not suffer because we are technology based, support businesses throughout the United States, and are immune from the law’s impact.  That would be foolish and short-sided at best.  After all, what if one of our New York clients elected to change IT support partners because we are based in Arizona?  Most assuredly, our interest would then be peaked. 

Let us all pay attention and hope that the Court’s decision – which is expected in early 2011 – provides Arizonans and all Americans with some direction as to the constitutionality of the employer sanctions law, SB 1070, and other immigration laws that are being passed across our nation.

Resolution of these laws’ constitutionality will be a step in the right direction.  However, you may wish to avoid sharing this optimistic view with your neighbor who used to have a contracting business and now comes to your house twice a month asking you if he can mow your lawn.  He may just tell you to stuff it in your VPN.

Phillip Biel
Catalyst Computer Technologies
www.cct247.com
480-391-6442