The provision is in the House-passed omnibus budget bill. The Senate still must act this coming week. Stay tuned...

A judge found that ICE agents failed to follow their own regulations and dismissed the deportation case. The decision could impact many other cases around the country.

The bill will target public employers and state contractors and will require e-Verify on a phased in basis.

The Indiana Senate labor committee has unanimously approved a bill that would revoke business licenses for employers that knowingly hire unauthorized workers. The bill is expected to hit problems in the Indiana House. The Senate is Republican-controlled and the House is Democrat-controlled.

Montana is looking at an Arizona-style sanctions law.

So much for the Constitution and any notions of preemption. Lancaster, California employees as well as employees of private outside accounting firm are going to randomly drop in on employers in the city and conduct I-9 audits. Never mind that it will be using accountants - not lawyers - to make determinations of violations of the law. And never mind that they are making determinations of compliance with federal law and not local or state law. Any employer in town who rolls over for this is a dupe.

It doesn't seem like a particularly smart move to use undocumented workers to mow the yard of the offices of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. On the other hand, given the track record of this sheriff, who knows what the real story is.

ICE has honored four Phoenix-area companies for participating in the ICE Mutual Agreement betwen Government and Employers program, also known as IMAGE. The program is voluntary and allows companies to set up systems to improve their I-9 compliance. Companies also use E-Verify.

KSL News in Salt Lake City reports.

A Tulsa County judge has ruled that HB 1804, Oklahoma's tough employer sanctions law, does not violate the state constitution, except for a part that creates an Oklahoma Bureau of Immigration and allows for appropriation and expenditures of public funds. The ruling should not have a bearing on a challenge in federal courts on preemption issues, however.

The Providence Journal reports that a proposal to mandate Rhode Island employers use E-Verify has been introduced for the third year running.

Last week I reported on a hearing in front of a judge regarding an employer sanctions ordinance in Columbia County, Oregon. Judge Ted Grove has now indicated he will approve an injunction blocking the measure. The rule would require local employers to use E-Verify and the challenge argued that the rule exceeded county powers, violated the single subject requirement of the Oregon Constitution and was pre-empted by state law.

Janco Composites, a fiberglass tubing manufacturer in South Bend, IN, agreed to pay a fine of $210,000 and its president Douglas Jaques agreed to pay a $30,000 fine and to a year's probation as a result of knowingly hiring illegally present immigrants.

Reflecting a growing trend around the country, the town of Freemont, Nebraska is considering a bill that targets illegal immigration including requiring a new business license for employers that could be revoked if an employer breaks immigration laws.

We're hearing from several sources that the House provisions extending E-Verify and expanding the program to mandate all employers receiving stimulus money use the program have not been included in the final draft of the stimulus package that will be voted by both Houses of Congress in the coming days. That leaves the E-Verify program in a vulnerable position since it expires on March 6th.

Here's the statement from ICE:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The former owner of an Asian buffet restaurant in Vacaville, Calif., has been sentenced to eight months of home confinement and three years probation on charges stemming from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into allegations he hired illegal aliens to work at the business.

A federal judge sentenced Rui Tao Lin, 53, the former owner of the King's Buffet in Vacaville, Calif., on Friday. In addition to home confinement and probation, the judge also ordered Lin to pay $49,000 in criminal fines. In November, Lin pleaded guilty to employing illegal aliens and mail fraud.

Lin, who now lives in Glen Falls, N.Y., was the owner of King's Buffet in Vacaville until the summer of 2008. In his guilty plea, Lin admitted that, from June 2006 until September 2008, he hired and assisted in the hiring of employees he knew were illegal aliens. The business hired at least 13 undocumented workers during that time. The King's Buffet would contact an employment agency in Los Angeles to recruit Asian employees. Other employees, typically from Mexico and Central America, responded to "Help Wanted" notices placed in the business.

Lin is the seventh and final defendant to be sentenced in the case, which culminated in September 2008 after ICE executed search warrants at the King's Buffet, the Empire Buffet in Vallejo, Calif., and two residences. During the enforcement action, ICE arrested 21 illegal alien workers on administrative immigration violations who were encountered at the search locations.

At Lin's sentencing, the judge noted that the defendant conspired with an employment agency to hire aliens who, due to their illegal status, were vulnerable to exploitation. The judge pointed out that the defendant benefitted financially by not paying taxes, fees, and proper salaries for the illegal employees. He rebuked the defendant's contention that the victims were not taken advantage of because the conditions in the United States were better than those they left behind in China.

Last month, two of Lin's co-defendants Rui Yang Lin and Bi Xia Ni were each sentenced to 36 months probation and a $36,000 fine. In addition, the husband and wife agreed to forfeit the Vallejo home they used to house some of the illegal workers. Rui Lin and Ni, who pleaded guilty to employing illegal aliens and concealing of a felony, managed the Empire Buffet.

NILC e-verify-facts-2009-01-29 - Get more documents

Lawyers Paul Greene and Anna Welch of Portland, Maine warned fellow attorneys at the state's annual bar meeting that ICE is increasingly targeting employers in the state.

The Deseret Morning News reports that two lawmakers in Utah are seeking to delay the implementation for a year of the state's tough Oklahoma-esque employer sanctions law.

Columbia County, Oregon is one of the first municipalities in the country to pass its own employer sanctions bill and it has now ended up challenged in a local court.

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