Immigration law facing a new test

The lawsuit, which claims the Oklahoma law undermines federal immigration law and imposes unreasonable burdens on state businesses, was filed in federal court in Oklahoma City.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The State Chamber, the Oklahoma City and Tulsa chambers of commerce, and the Oklahoma restaurant and hotel and lodging associations filed the lawsuit.

"Piecemeal efforts to regulate the employment of unauthorized workers are unconstitutional and pre-empted by federal law,” Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center, which represents the U.S. Chamber, said in a statement.

"Oklahoma's immigration law is one of several — including the ordinance struck down in Hazleton, Pa. — that we have challenged,” he said. "The Constitution plainly prohibits state and local governments from undermining well-established federal law regulating the employment of immigrants in the United States.”

The law's author, state Rep. Randy Terrill, derided attempts to strike it down.

"It's a repetitive attempt by the pro-illegal immigrant lobby and their allies to defeat House Bill 1804,” Terrill said. "The moral dilemma for big business is that they're basically supporting modern day slavery.”

In the past, state attorneys have argued that the Oklahoma immigration statute does not create new law but simply reiterates existing law and gives law enforcement agencies a means to enforce it.