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An Act To Ensure Fair Employment Opportunity for Maine Citizens and Legal Residents by Requiring the Use of the Federal Immigration Verification System
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §871, sub-§1-B  is enacted to read:
 
1-B.  Verification required.     An employer shall register with and use the federal immigration verification system to determine the work eligibility status of new employees physically performing services in the State.
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §871, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2009, c. 637, §2, is further amended to read:
 
2. Penalty.   Violation of subsection 1 or 1-A is a Class E crime. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under subsection 1 that the employer, before employing a person or referring a person for employment, made a good faith inquiry as to whether that person was a United States citizen or an alien, and if the inquiry reasonably indicated that the person was an alien, the employer made a further good faith inquiry that reasonably indicatedused the federal immigration verification system to verify that the alien was lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence or that the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service had authorized the alien to accept employment in the United States.
 
A.  A good faith inquiry under this subsection must be in writing. An employment application form that requests citizenship data, or an alien registration number if the applicant is an alien, meets the requirement of a good faith inquiry in writing.
 
B. A social security account number card is not considered evidence of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service's authorization for an alien to accept employment in the United States.
Sec. 3.  26 MRSA §871, sub-§4  is enacted to read:
 
4.  Definition.     As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, "federal immigration verification system" means the electronic verification of the work authorization program of the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, 8 United States Code, Section 1324a, known as the E-Verify program, or an equivalent federal program designated by the United States Department of Homeland Security or other federal agency authorized to verify the work eligibility status of a newly hired employee pursuant to the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
 
SUMMARY
This bill requires an employer to register with and use the federal immigration verification system, currently known as the E-Verify program, to determine the work eligibility status of new employees physically performing services within the State.