Fines can be less than a New York City parking ticket
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Enforcement of workplace immigration law, a central principle of immigration reform legislation under debate in Congress, has significantly declined since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to testimony at a Senate hearing Monday.

The number of unauthorized workers arrested fell from 2,849 in fiscal year 1999 to 445 in 2003, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

The report also found the number of intent-to-fine notices issued to employers for improperly filling out forms related to foreign workers or knowingly hiring unauthorized workers dropped from 417 to three in the same four-year period.

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President Bush recently announced that the Federal government would make it easier for employers to verify employment eligibility and continue to hold them to account for the workers they hire.  To that end, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today the release of two Federal regulations to help businesses comply with current legal hiring requirements intended to reduce the employment of unauthorized aliens. 

The first proposal would permit U.S. businesses to digitize their I-9 employment forms, which are used to verify eligibility to work in the United States.  The other proposed regulation would set forth guidance for U.S. businesses when handling no-match letters from the Social Security Administration (SSA) concerning submitted employee Social Security numbers or from DHS concerning documents submitted by employees during the I-9 process.

“Most businesses want to do the right thing when it comes to employing legal workers,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.  “These new regulations will give U.S. businesses the necessary tools to increase the likelihood that they are employing workers consistent with our laws.  They also help us to identify and prosecute employers who are blatantly abusing our immigration system.”

President George W. Bush, hoping to sway conservatives skeptical about his proposed U.S. immigration overhaul, stressed his commitment to tougher border controls on Tuesday in a swing through New Mexico and Texas.

Taking his immigration case to the front lines, Bush sought to shift the focus away from complaints that an immigration bill he backed passed by the Senate last month adds up to amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.

As he toured the Border Patrol's training academy in New Mexico, Bush insisted that Congress must pass a comprehensive new law coupling tighter border security with a path to eventual citizenship for many undocumented workers.