Bucking a recent trend in state immigration laws that require E-Verify use by employers, California has forged its own path by enacting "The Employment Acceleration Act of 2011" (California Assembly Bill 1236). The new law – signed by Governor Jerry Brown this past weekend – prohibits state and local governments in California from passing local mandates that require employers use the federal E-verify program to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees.

Since 2008, no fewer than 14 cities and counties in California have passed local ordinances or laws that require employers use E-verify under a variety of circumstances. All such local ordinances are effectively invalidated by the new law that amends California's Labor Code.