The district court judge presiding over the case challenging the enforceability of the AZ Employer Sanctions Law issued a ruling today denying the employer groups’ application for a Temporary Restraining Order to stop the law from going into effect.  Absent an extraordinary turn of events, you should assume the law will go into effect as planned on Jan. 1, 2008.  Accordingly, if you haven’t already done so, you should immediately enroll your company in the E-Verify program and use the program to verify the employment eligibility of anyone hired by your organization after Dec. 31st, 2007.

The federal district judge presiding over the lawsuit challenging the enforceability of the AZ Employer-Sanctions Law tossed out the lawsuit late Friday on technical grounds.  The judge ruled that the plaintiffs did not sue the proper parties and did not present evidence that they had or will suffer harm by the new law.  The court did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit.  The attorneys representing the various business groups and trade associations that brought the suit have promised to file a new lawsuit next week, but it is unlikely that lawsuit will be ruled on before January 1st.

Given this ruling, the new law will most likely go into effect as planned on January 1st.  Accordingly, if you have not already done so, you should enroll your business in the Dep’t of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program.

Click here for the E-Verify Program website: (https://e-verify.uscis.gov/enroll/)