1. Audits make illegals' lives more difficult
2. BP agents check status on buses, trains
3. Rep. club books AZ sheriff as speaker
4. Microsoft lobbied on immigration issues
5. Illegal alien accused of murder

1.
Immigration Audits Drive Illegal Workers Underground
By Miriam Jordan
The Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2011

Minneapolis - In 2009, Alba and Eugenio were making almost twice the federal minimum wage, plus benefits, cleaning a skyscraper for a national janitorial company. With two toddlers, the Mexican couple enjoyed relative prosperity in a tidy one-bedroom duplex in a working-class neighborhood here.

Late that year, federal agents audited employee records of ABM Industries Inc., forcing it to shed all the illegal workers on its payrolls in the Twin Cities. Among them was the couple, undocumented immigrants who had worked at ABM for more than a decade.

Shortly after, Alba and Eugenio, who declined to have their surname published, landed at a small janitorial concern, scrubbing car dealerships for about half the pay, without benefits. Earlier this year that employer, too, was hit by an immigration audit. In late February, Alba and Eugenio were let go.

Today, the couple is struggling to make ends meet, working part-time and often relying on handouts from food banks to feed their family.

The journey from prosperity to the economic margins followed by Alba and Eugenio is an increasingly common path for thousands of undocumented workers pushed out of their jobs by the federal government's audits of U.S. businesses, according to immigration experts, business owners and unions.

The audits, started by the Obama administration in 2009, put the onus on business to police workers, requiring companies to turn over employee records to federal agents. If the papers aren't in order, the workers are quietly let go without penalty while the companies are punished.

The audits, conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, were initially hailed by some immigrant advocates as more humane because they eliminate deportation raids, the norm during the Bush administration.

But it has become increasingly clear that the policy is pushing undocumented workers deeper underground, delivering them to the hands of unscrupulous employers, depressing wages and depriving federal, state and local coffers of taxes, according to unions, companies and immigrant advocates.

Indeed, the audits draw flak from both proponents and opponents of an immigration overhaul. Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas), a leading voice among foes of giving illegal immigrants amnesty, deems audits ineffectual because they don't result in deportation.

"This means the illegal immigrant can walk down the street to the next employer and take a job that could go to an unemployed, legal worker," said Rep. Smith, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Many employers say the administration is depriving them of foreign workers who do jobs Americans refuse, even during an economic downturn, without proposing immigration reform that would supply a stable, legal labor force.

"All the audits do is keep employers in certain industries awake at night, while driving immigrants into work environments and arrangements that are indefensible," said Bill Blazar, a senior vice president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Audits hit national burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill last year and garment maker American Apparel in 2009, among thousands of other employers. This year, ICE said it has audited more than 2,300 companies who employ tens of thousands of workers—in construction, agriculture, food processing, restaurant and critical-infrastructure sectors—from upstate New York and Alabama to Texas and Washington.

The audits are an answer to calls by many members of Congress to strictly enforce current immigration laws before considering wholesale reform of the country's immigration system. Like his predecessor, President Barack Obama favors an immigration overhaul that would put illegal immigrants on the path to legalization.

The administration began targeting employers because they are the "magnet" for illegal immigration since they provide jobs that lure the undocumented workers, according to ICE chief John Morton.

ICE doesn't disclose the names of the audited companies, and it said it also doesn't keep tabs on how many workers lose their jobs. As of Aug. 6, ICE said 2,393 companies were being audited, the largest number in a single fiscal year.

It's impossible to track where workers hit by audits end up. But immigration experts say Minnesota offers a microcosm for how many immigrants respond.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB2000142405311190448090457649620001169992...

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2.
Undocumented immigrants may face ID checks on Amtrak, Greyhound
By Sarah Gonzalez
The Miami Herald, August 15, 2011

As a Greyhound bus prepared to leave a small town near Atlanta, 19-year-old Azucena headed to the window seat on the last row , on her way to Miami to start school and a new life.

She propped a pillow against the glass and drifted off to sleep as the bus glided down the highway toward South Florida.

Around 5 a.m., Azucena, who does not want her last name used, woke up when the bus driver pulled up to the Pompano Beach bus station — one stop before her final destination.

Three U.S. Border Patrol agents boarded, announcing they would be checking IDs. She lifted her head to see one agent walking directly toward her.

“It kind of looked like they already knew who they were looking for, because they went straight to the back where I was,” said Azucena, now enrolled in a beauty school in Little Havana.

At that moment, one frightening thought raced through her mind: “Oh my God I’m being deported!’’

Azucena spent the next 76 days in a federal immigration center, Broward Transitional Center, becoming one of a fast-growing number of undocumented immigrants caught in what may be the latest crackdown: Grabbing them from public transportation, mainly Greyhound and Amtrak.

Immigration searches on public transportation sites are not well publicized. Border patrol agents generally protect the border or coastline. But, Steve Cribby, spokesperson for U. S. Customs and Border Protection, says agents have the authority to conduct immigration checks in public places. And checks on Greyhound buses and Amtrak are meant to disrupt human smuggling activities into the country’s interior, he said.

The checks are consistent with previous years, he said. Citing law enforcement sensitivity, border patrol officials would not provide figures on apprehensions on public transportation.

But attorneys and others say they have definitely seen an increase.
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http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/15/3838403/undocumented-immigrations-may.html

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3.
"America's Toughest Sheriff" Attracting Attention as Speaker at Local Republican Event
By Dan Rafter
Thew Montgomery Patch, August 15, 2011

No one can argue that the Kendall County Republican Central Committee went the safe route when it chose the guest spaker for its Annual Family Picnic. The committee landed Joe Arpaio, the controversial Arizona lawman widely known as "America's Toughest Sheriff," to speak at the picnic to be held later this month.

Arpaio is famous for both his tough stance against illegal immigration and the decidedly no-frills jails that he runs for inmates in Maricopa County in Arizona. Supporters say that Arpaio is merely following the law when it comes to arresting illegal immigrants, and that jails should be places in which inmates dread spending their days and nights.

Critics of the Maricopa County sheriff say that he routinely violates the human rights of his inmates and that he uses unethical means to find and arrest illegal immigrants, including searching vehicles stopped for routine traffic violations for drivers or passengers who Arpaio thinks might be in the country illegally.

Ken Toftoy, chairman of the Kendall County Republican Central Committee and Kendall County coroner, said that he's thrilled to have Arpaio as the picnic's guest speaker. He's a fan of the sheriff, he says, and supports the lawman's tough views on incarceration and illegal immigration.

He added that Arpaio has no problem with protestors. If they do show up during the family picnic, Toftoy said, he's sure that the sheriff -- known to his fans as Sheriff Joe -- would have no problem debating them on everything from immigration laws to whether inmates should have access to salt and pepper while incarcerated.

"This guy is doing the right things," Toftoy said. "Staying in jail shouldn't be like staying at the Conrad Hilton. And people who do cross the border illegally are breaking the law. They should be arrested. I don't think the sheiff is doing anything wrong. I absolutely believe in what he is doing."

Not everyone agrees. This isn't unusual. Arpaio has many supporters. But he also has many critics, with protestors frequently showing up at his speaking engagements or outside his Maricopa County office.

Count union leader Corey Johnson, business representative of Laborers Local 149 Aurora, as one of the Arpaio critics.
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http://montgomery.patch.com/articles/americas-toughest-sheriff-attractin...

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4.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Racks Up Huge Lobbying Bill
The EMoney Daily, August 15, 2011

The largest software maker said in a statement filed with the US Senate that it spent $1.85 million in its second quarter lobbying push.

The company spent in order to bring up issues such as online security, high speed internet access, licensing rights, electronic health records, taxes and immigration policies.
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http://www.emoneydaily.com/microsoft-corporation-nasdaqmsft-racks-up-hug...

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5.
Boyfriend of stabbed NC girl suspected of immigration violation after 2009 border violation
The Associated Press, August15, 2011

Raleigh, NC (AP) — The boyfriend of a 15-year-old North Carolina girl found fatally stabbed on the edge of a lake is also wanted by federal immigration officials.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports Monday (http://bit.ly/rpZVQG ) that Gabriel Alejandro Maricio Lopez was deported to his native Mexico in 2009. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement official Danielle Bennett says Lopez had no significant criminal history at the time.

ICE placed a detainer on the 20-year-old Apex resident after he was charged with first-degree murder last week. Lopez will stay in the United States to face the felony charge.
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http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/b93b3cb4a31b4776a52cf915308eee00/N...