PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona prosecutor says his office has filed the first civil complaint against a business under a 22-month-old state law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas says the manager of the Scottsdale Art Factory used a subcontractor who is an illegal immigrant to avoid the law's requirement that employees be legal workers.
Thomas says investigators have the manager on tape telling an informant that she was trying to get around the law.
A woman who answered the phone at the business declined to comment.
Under Arizona's law, businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants can have their business licenses suspended or revoked.
Cities across the country have passed similar measures, though some have been rejected in court.
