Thread: UT: UFIRE continues efforts to ensure compliance with employ

UFIRE continues efforts to ensure compliance with employment verification statute
January 31, 12:50 AM Salt Lake City Immigration Examiner Ronald Mortensen


Since July 1, 2009, Utah’s public employers and their contractors have been required to verify the legal status of their new hires.

However, an ongoing review by Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (UFIRE) reveals that most public employers in Utah continue to be in violation of state law. They are not enrolled in E-Verify and they do not require their contractors to ensure that they have a legal workforce.

There has been no legislative follow-up to ensure that public entities are complying with the employment verification requirements. The Utah Attorney General’s office has taken no steps to encourage compliance with the law.

When UFIRE members initially contacted the state’s 29 school districts four months after the employment verification requirement went into effect, they found that only 30% of the school districts were complying with the law.

Most school districts indicated that they were unaware of the new requirements. In addition, the taxpayer funded State Office of Education had taken no steps to inform school districts of the new requirements.

The failure of school districts and other public employers to implement the law’s employment verification requirements continues to make hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds available to contactors who may be hiring illegal aliens using the stolen identities of Utah children.

UFIRE officials acknowledge that much remains to be done but they point out that in the three months since they began contacting school districts, the percentage of districts enrolled in E-Verify has doubled to 60% and efforts continue to bring the remaining 40% on line.

In addition, UFIRE is now working to get Utah’s other public employers to comply with the law. Of Utah’s 245 incorporated municipalities, according to Department of Homeland Security information, only 18 or seven percent were using E-Verify as of January 26, 2010. Of Utah’s 29 counties, only 3 or ten percent were registered with E-Verify.

Furthermore, UFIRE has received and continues to receive significant support from Utah State Senator Margaret Dayton in its efforts to get public entities to comply.

http://oneoldvet.com/

www.examiner.com

"Gee, I didn't know" excuse has never worked with the IRS, and it should not work with any government entity as an excuse to slide by.