The criminal trial of Sholom Rubashkin from Agriprocessors on fraud and immigration violations has begun and witnesses are now testifying that the manager of the meat processing plant knowingly hired illegally present workers.

According to the Arizona Star, Represenative Russell Pearce is proposing to let prosecutors subpoena business records and testimony to investigate whether companies are hiring undocumented workers, without first getting a warrant from a judge.

This is likely to become more common:

Former workers at two suburban Chicago businesses filed complaints Tuesday saying their employers violated state law by using the E-Verify database to help determine the employees' legal status to work after they were hired.

The complaints are the first filed regarding the E-Verify system in Illinois, the state which has historically taken the strongest stance against the use of the controversial federal online database.

The complaints to the Illinois Department of Labor allege five Red Roof Inn employees and a former employee with Randstad, a temporary staffing agency in Bolingbrook, were wrongfully fired after E-Verify was used.

Employers need to be very careful about only re-verifying existing employees if they are covered under the FAR federal contractor rules.

State regulators in South Carolina have agreed to end surprise inspections to check compliance with the state's tough new employer compliance law. Officials will now provide three days notice before showing up at an employer's work site.

The Arizona Capitol Times reports that in the 21 months since the state's draconian employer compliance law went in to effect, no businesses have been shut down for hiring unlawfully present immigrants despite a number of investigations being launched.

Despite the lack of successfully shutting down any businesses, some believe that the law has had the unintended effect of damaging the state's economy:

But Jason LeVecke said the unintended consequences of the law have been far too great. He points to Texas, which will increase employment this year and hasn’t had major budget problems. The major difference between Arizona and Texas, he said, is the employer sanctions law.

Levecke owns dozens of Carl’s Jr. and Pizza Patrón restaurants and is the chairman of Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform.

'I think you can lay most of our economic woes on its doorstep,' he said. 'My problem with the law always was that it burns the village to save the people. We’re doing that by driving out a lot of people who are legal, too.'

The article also discusses a controversial proposal to grant subpoena power in sanctions cases that critics say is really an attempt to avoid the scrutiny of the judicial system.

The Brookings Institution recently released a report recommending a number of changes to the immigration system including recommendations for improving E-Verify. Federal Computers Weekly reports on the recommendations which includes the controversial idea of starting a national identification system with secure biometrics.

Pierce County, Washington joins a growing number of counties around the US mandating private businesses doing business with the county use the electronic verification system.

From South Carolina Lawyers Weekly:

Employers critical of recent state immigration audits have reached an agreement with the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation with the help of employment lawyers from several of the state's largest firms.

Since July 1, LLR has conducted random audits of businesses to ensure compliance with a recently enacted provision of the S.C. Illegal Immigration Reform Act.

*****

The S.C. Chamber of Commerce and several of the state's largest law firms, including Nexsen Pruet,Ogletree Deakins and The McNair Law Firm, worked with LLR to resolve the issues, said David Dubberly, who chairs Nexsen Pruet's employment and labor law practice group.

A Nexsen Pruet update e-mailed to clients on Sept. 30 said that LLR had agreed to give employers at least three days written notice of audits. Also, LLR agreed to no longer inspect records of employees hired before July 1.

The White House has formally repealed the controversial social security no-match rule that was the subject of lawsuit challenging the regulation. This followed the announcement in July that the E-Verify contractor rule would proceed while the no-match rule would be withdrawn.

The House and Senate conferees negotiating the Department of Homeland Security spending bill have reached agreement on a provision extending the E-Verify electronic employment verification system for three years. Proponents of the program had been seeking a permanent extension of E-Verify while advocates for comprehensive immigration reform have been seeking to limit the program until that immigration bill passes.

Tracker I-9 reports that the tool will be available in late 2009.

The Washington Daily News reports on a potential E-Verify ordinance in Beaufort County.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that most businesses are not having problems using the system.

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