Utah lawmaker revives proposal targeting immigrant workers in the country illegally

SALT LAKE CITY — A measure meant to prod employers to more thoroughly vet their workers and weed out immigrants without proper work authorization has returned to Utah's legislative docket.

A similar proposal fizzled last year and whether this year's version has better luck remains to be seen. HB294 is sponsored by Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, and is assigned to the House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee, but hasn't been scheduled for a hearing. Whatever the case, it joins a handful of Utah bills this session targeting immigrants in the country illegally, a priority issue for the administration of President Donald Trump and a focus for some Utah lawmakers as well.

The bill, as written, states that private Utah employers with 150 or more employees must verify the immigration status of their employees using a system like E-Verify to ensure they are legally authorized to work in the country, though the requirement isn't enforced. Last year, HB214, as originally proposed, would have lowered the threshold to businesses with five or more workers, though the minimum was later amended to 15 and then 50. At any rate, it stalled when lawmakers voted to hold the measure, effectively ending debate.

This year's follow-up (HB294) would require employers with 50 or more workers to first vet prospective hires using systems like E-Verify, a federal program that allows companies to electronically verify the employment eligibility of workers. It wouldn't go into effect until July 1, 2027, giving employers more than a year to prepare.

If HB294 were approved, 6,242 Utah businesses that employ 50 or more people would fall under its parameters, according to Utah Department of Workforce Services data as of the first quarter of 2025. According to the state agency, there are 2,600 businesses with 100 or more workers, but the data in its most recent report on employers doesn't specify the smaller pool of businesses with 150 or more workers, the current cutoff point requiring vetting of workers' employment eligibility status.

When HB214, sponsored by Rep. R. Neil Walter, R-St. George, came up for debate last year, one of the key concerns for critics was the difficulties they feared it would cause employers in finding employees, notably in the agriculture and construction sectors. Mandating use of E-Verify without addressing the dearth of workers "could severely impact our ability to maintain a stable workforce and keep producing food for Utah," Terry Camp, vice president for public policy for the Utah Farm Bureau Association, said during a Feb. 19, 2025, hearing on the measure.

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At any rate, Walter noted last year that requiring employers with 150 or more workers to verify their employees' employment status isn't being enforced. Not including an enforcement mechanism, he said, was a concession to the legislation's original approval in 2010.

"There is not a penalty or an agency that is out monitoring this today," he said.

Still, he viewed expanding the pool of companies required to vet their workers' employment status, at least on paper, as a step forward.

Among the other bills this session aimed at the presence of immigrants in the country illegally are HB136, HB287 and HB88. HB136 would allow police to impound vehicles of unlicensed drivers, including immigrants in the country illegally or otherwise unable to get a license or driver's privilege card. HB287 would end Utah's driver privilege card program, which enables immigrants in the country illegally to lawfully drive in the state. HB88 would beef up prohibitions on the ability of immigrants in the country illegally to access certain public benefits, including some housing, health and food programming.

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