Filed on February 3, 2011, North Carolina House Bill 36 proposes an act prohibiting state and local government contracts with contractors who employ illegal immigrants. Moreover, House Bill 36 would require that prior to submitting a bid or entering into a contract with any State department, institution or governing body of any political subdivision of the State, a contractor would have to verify the legal status of each individual employee employed by the contractor to perform work under the contract, in accordance with the E-Verify Program.

According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, E-Verify is described as “an internet-based system that compares information from an employee’s Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records” in order to confirm employment eligibility.

Should House Bill 36 become North Carolina law, a violation would render the contract void which could, in turn, provide the contracting entity defenses to remitting payment to the violating contractor. Additionally, if a contractor is discovered to have knowingly employed illegal immigrants on a project, the contractor would be prohibited from submitting a bid or entering into a contract with any State department or political subdivision of the State for one (1) year from the date the violation was discovered.

Following suit, the North Carolina Senate filed Senate Bill 204 on March 3, 2011, which seeks to require each county and city to register and participate in the E-Verify program to verify the employment eligibility of its own employees as well as prohibit counties and cities from entering into contracts with contractors unless the contractor registered and participates in the E-Verify program.

Both House Bill 36 and Senate Bill 204 are currently undergoing the review process in their respective committees.