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Arizona’s governor, Janet Napolitano signed a bill earlier this week prohibiting companies from hiring undocumented workers and requiring them to verify their workers’ employment eligibility. Napolitano, a Democrat, signed the bill after a three year struggle in Arizona’s Republican controlled legislature over state-imposed employer sanctions. Business leaders are criticizing the program, calling it inadequate and flawed. The law requires employers to verify their workers are legal U.S. residents through a federal program known as the Basic Pilot Program. This program is known to be quite prone to errors and inaccuracies. If a company was found to violate the law, its business license would be suspended temporarily. A second offense would mean a permanent revocation of that license. Napolitano justified her signature claiming the law’s goal is to weaken the economic incentive for immigrants to cross the border into Arizona. She also said that the federal government has failed its responsibility to address immigration reform, leaving it up to individual states to do so. <\/p>\n![\"Janet](\"http:\/\/www.periodistadigital.com\/imgs\/efep\/20060125\/1137967241152w.jpg\")
GUEST: Elias Bermudez, CEO and Founder of Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras and radio show host of “”La voz del Emigrante”<\/em><\/p>\n