States Where All Employers Must Comply With The State Immigration Laws
- Arizona
All businesses must use E-Verify. - Mississippi
1) All state agencies, public contractors and subcontractors, and all private employers with 250 or more employees must use E-Verify;
2) private employers with 100-249 employees must use E-Verify by July 1, 2009;
3) private employers with 30-99 employees must use E-Verify by July 1, 2010;
4) all other private employers must begin using E-Verify by July 1, 2011. - South Carolina
All employers with state service contracts must verify that a newly hired employee has valid work authorization by completing a Form I-9 and either: 1) verifying the employee’s work authorization through E-Verify or 2) determining that the employee has a valid South Carolina driver’s license or ID card, or one from another state that uses the same standards for issuance as South Carolina. Private employers with 100 or more employees must start this verification process by October 1, 2009, and those with fewer than 100 employees must start no later than July 1, 2010.
States Requiring Compliance By Specific Types Of Employers
- Arkansas
State contractors must certify that they do not knowingly employ or contract with (including subcontractors) undocumented workers. - Colorado
Companies that contract with state agencies and political subdivisions of the state for services must use E-Verify for all newly-hired employees. - Connecticut
State contractors may be found criminally liable for hiring undocumented workers. - Delaware
Any state contractor with a contract for professional services, public works, or nonprofessional services, which is paid with public funds, must certify that they are in compliance with the requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. - Florida
By July 1, 2009, employers with state contracts for the physical performance of services in the state must use E-Verify for all newly-hired employees. - Georgia
All public employers and state contractors (including subcontractors) with 500 or more employees were required to use E-Verify to check the status of all newly-hired employees by July 1, 2007. By July 1, 2008, all companies with 100 or more employees and who have state contracts or subcontracts must use E-Verify for newly-hired employees. All other employers with state contracts or subcontracts must start using E-Verify for newly-hired employees as of July 1, 2009. A Georgia employer may not claim a state income tax deduction for wages of $600 or more paid to an individual who does not have authorization to work. - Hawai
All individuals seeking employment with the state or a county must be a citizens, national or permanent residents or be eligible for unrestricted employment in the United States. - Idaho
State employees must have proper work authorization and the state must ensure that businesses with state contracts for services employ only legal workers. - Iowa
Any business that receives economic assistance from the state must verify that its employees are citizens of the United States or authorized to work in the U.S. - Kansas
Unemployment benefits and employment protection status are limited to U.S. citizens and those with legal immigration status. - Louisiana
Any state agency or department may conduct an investigation of a contractor’s hiring policies if it suspects the contractor of employing unauthorized workers. - Massachusetts
Contractors doing business with a state agency in the Executive Branch must certify that they will not use unauthorized workers. - Minnesota
State agencies and all companies awarded state contracts must use E-Verify for newly-hired employees. - Missouri
All state agencies, local governments, and private employers who receive state loans, tax credits or have a contract worth more than $5,000 must use E-Verify for newly-hired employees. - Montana
Aliens temporarily in the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services or studying temporarily in the U.S. are excluded from the definition of employment for purposes of unemployment insurance laws and laws relating to independent contractors. - Nebraska
Starting October 1, 2009, all public employers and any contractor and subcontractor awarded a contract by a public employer for the physical performance of services within the state will be required to use E-Verify for all new hires. - Nevada
Aliens who are nonresidents of the U.S. at the time of a work-related accident are not covered by the provisions of the state’s workers’ compensation law. The Nevada Tax Commission may impose fines on an employer found to be engaged in unlawful hiring or employment of unauthorized aliens. - New Mexico
Certain aliens admitted to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor are excluded from obtaining unemployment compensation. - Oklahoma
Originally, private employers with state contracts for the physical performance of services within the state had to use E-Verify for newly-hired employees, but the law isn’t being enforced because of a temporary court injunction. - Oregon
An insurer or self-insured employer may not make payments to a person pursuant to the state’s workers’ compensation law if that person is in the U.S. without legal authorization. - Pennsylvania
Employers may not employ illegal aliens on projects financed by state grants or loans. Employers in the Keystone Opportunity Zone economic development program are required to repay the full value of any KOZ tax benefit if sentenced under federal law for knowingly employing illegal aliens or using a contractor that the taxpayer knew or had reason to know was employing illegal aliens. - Rhode Island
All persons and businesses (including contractors) doing business with the state must use E-Verify. - Tennessee
Contractors must attest that they do not employ illegal workers and are prohibited from contracting with a state agency within one year of discovery that the contractor is employing illegal workers. It is a criminal offense to recklessly or knowingly employ an illegal alien, or knowingly encourage or induce an illegal alien to enter the state to work. Employers may not accept taxpayer identification numbers as proof of immigration status or as a form of identification. - Texas
In order to apply for and receive a public subsidy, a business must certify that it does not and will not knowingly employ an undocumented worker. - Utah
Effective July 1, 2009, all public entities and all private employers with contracts (including subcontractors) with the state must use E-Verify for all newly-hired employees. - Washington
Labor performed by nonresident aliens is excluded from the definition of employment under the state’s unemployment insurance law. - West Virginia
All employers must verify the work authorization of all employees. Employing unauthorized workers may result in a misdemeanor, punishable by fines up to $10,000 and incarceration for repeat offenses. Employers who have been convicted of hiring unauthorized workers may not claim a state income tax deduction for wages of $600 or more paid to an unauthorized worker.
Click here to return to previous article