PHOENIX -- After surviving two court challenges, the law punishing Arizona businesses that knowingly employ illegal workers goes into effect tomorrow.

But it appears many businesses are not ready.

As of Friday, 9,062 employers in Arizona had signed up for E-Verify -- about 6 percent of the approximately 150,000 employers around the state.

Some businesses say they plan to use outside services that check workers' status for a fee and others are waiting to sign up until they need to hire workers.

The state sanctions law is the toughest in the nation.

It is aimed at turning off the job magnet that has drawn more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants to Arizona.

In addition to punishing businesses for knowingly employing illegal workers, the measure requires employers to use a federal online computer program known as E-Verify to check the work eligibility of all new employees hired after New Year's Day.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)