The Supreme Court last week upheld an Arizona law that punishes businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. On a 5-3 vote, the court held that Arizona’s law does not extend beyond the state’s powers or conflict with federal immigration law. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote “Arizona’s licensing law falls well within the confines of the authority Congress chose to leave to the states.”

This decision will allow Arizona to implement and enforce its 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act. Under this law, employers that are found in violation for hiring illegal immigrants could have their business licenses suspended or revoked.  The law also makes it a requirement for employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of newly hired employees.

This will be seen as a big defeat for the US Chamber of Commerce and the Obama administration, who had been the primary opposition to this bill. The Chamber of Commerce argued that allowing states to regulate immigration would create undue hardship to business trying to abide by a multitude of different regulation. However, 13 other states aligned themselves with and backed Arizona in their fight to keep the state’s authority to license the businesses in their state.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote the 27-page opinion.