2 measures would require compliance with federal verification system before hiring of workers

As a human resource manager for Chromalox Precision Heat and Control in Ogden, Toni Ure says she has no complaint about a federal verification system for new hires.

"It's very, very easy to use," she said. "You go through the same steps that you would when you hire someone."

And if an employee turns out to be ineligible to work, "It's nice to find out sooner rather than later."

Chromalox is one of 115 companies with 357 sites in Utah currently participating in the Internet-based federal Basic Pilot program, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Employers who use the optional program enter into an agreement to allow the Department of Homeland Security to verify the information on an I-9 employment eligibility form, such as name and Social Security number, for all new hires.

Utah's business community is now eyeing a bill that could make that federal program mandatory for any company that does business with the state of Utah.

The bill, HB127, sponsored by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, will see its first hearing today at 8 a.m. in the House Business and Labor Committee. Another bill that has yet to see a hearing, HB156, sponsored by Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, would require all Utah companies participate.

Colorado and Georgia have passed laws similar to what Sandstrom is proposing. And the Basic Pilot program is growing nationwide — 12,024 companies with 54,304 sites participate, said Sharon Rummery, spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

However, Robin Riggs of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce said he's seen only anecdotal evidence that the program "works really, really well."

"Some companies like it, others don't," Riggs said. "I think the jury is out as to whether it really helps verify (identity) or not."

The National Immigration Law Center has released a report saying the program is hindered by "inaccurate and outdated information" in databases, "misuse of the program by employers and lack of adequate privacy protections."

In December, a federal identity theft investigation led to the arrest of 1,282 workers at Swift & Co. plants in Utah and five other states. The company participates in Basic Pilot.

"That doesn't mean Basic Pilot is unreliable," Rummery said. The program is intended to "find people who commit the most common kind of fraud — showing phony documents."