Utah enacts Illegal Immigration Act

On March 13, 2008, Utah's governor signed into law the Illegal Immigration Act (SB-81), which takes effect on July 1, 2009. In relevant part, the Act requires all public employers as well as their contractors and subcontractors to use a "status verification system" to verify the immigration status of new hires.

The Act recognizes E-Verify and the Social Security Number Verification Service as acceptable forms of status verification systems. The requirement for all public employers in Utah to use a status verification system will take effect on July 1, 2009.

The Act defines a public employer as a department, agency, instrumentality, or a political subdivision of the state. State contractors who enter into a contract for the physical performance of services with a public employer in Utah must register and participate in a recognized status verification system to verify the work authorization of its new hires.

This requirement applies to contracts for the physical performance of services within the state of Utah entered into after the Act takes effect. Contracts for services that involve underwriting, remarketing, broker-dealer activities, securities placement, investment advisory, financial advisory, or other financial or investment banking are exempt from this requirement.The Act defines a contractor as a subcontractor, contract employee, staffing agency, trade union, or any contractor regardless of its tier.

Subcontractors to state contractors must certify by affidavit that they have verified the employment status of each new employee through a status verification system. Utah's required use of a federal work authorization program supplements and does not substitute the federal requirement to complete Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. More generally, the Act seeks to regulate various aspects of immigration, such as access to public benefits by foreign nationals, issuance of state identification documents to foreign nationals, and use of local law enforcement to enforce immigration law.