Arizona appeals ruling over its work-related ID theft laws

PHOENIX (AP) - Lawyers for the state of Arizona have asked an appeals court to reverse a ruling that prevents Maricopa County officials from enforcing two identity-theft laws that have been used to convict hundreds of immigrant workers.

The laws prohibited the use of fake or stolen IDs for getting jobs and served as the legal underpinning for more than 80 business raids by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office from 2008 until late 2014.

A lower-court judge ruled in January that immigrant-rights advocates who challenged the two laws are likely to succeed in claiming the state statutes are trumped by federal law.

The state's attorneys told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the two laws don't conflict with federal law or refer to people's immigration status.