A news flash issued by the New York Times states that immigration officials are now quietly reviewing the records of companies that it suspects hire illegal immigrants. This focus on audits is different from the immigration approach we saw in 2009 when the immigration officials conducted raids and arrested hundreds of individuals in the process for each company, including sometimes even the manager(s) in charge of hiring.
So far, more than 2,900 companies have been under scrutiny through these audits, which is a much larger number than the raids conducted under the Bush Administration. Under this new process, immigration is more concerned with “egregious” employers rather than arresting and deporting illegal employees.
Again, the immigration officials are trying to create a “culture of compliance,” which is obviously a current focus of the federal government under President Obama. Certainly this focus on compliance is taking precedence over immigration reform, at least for the time being. More information can be located at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100710/us_nm/us_usa_immigration_audits_1