Utah is looking to expand its E-Verify rule beyond government contractors to include all employers in the state. SB251, sponsored by Senator Chris Buttars (R-West Jordan) would require all employers to use E-Verify or face loss of a business license and prosecution as a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1000 fine.
Critics of the measure have already criticized the measure as violating a recent 10th Circuit opinion on Oklahoma’s sanctions law. That law did not contain a criminal penalty, something that is arguably pre-empted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.