On Friday, November 14, the Bush Administration issued a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require contractors to verify the legal status of their workers starting January 15, 2009, in order to do business with the federal government. Published in the Federal Register, the rule requires contractors that win a federal contract of more than $100,000--- and subcontractors with contracts of greater than $3,000--- must use E-Verify, the federally designated electronic verification system, within 30 days of the contract award. Contractors will have to check the eligibility of all new hires and existing employees assigned to the contract. Under the system, new hire information from I-9 forms is electronically compared with the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security databases . The final rule gives contractors the option to verify their entire workforce, which going forward will negate the need to track and manage those existing employees that have not been verified and later assigned on contracts.

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ARLINGTON, Wash. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents executed a federal civil search warrant this morning at an aircraft manufacturing plant here, arresting 32 of the company's workers on administrative immigration violations. The search warrant was executed at Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. (AMT), a leading supplier of frame and interior parts for commercial and military aircraft. AMT provides many of the parts used in some of aviation's most popular airplanes, including the Boeing 737 and Boeing 777. Today's operation is part of ICE's worksite enforcement effort focusing on critical infrastructure and security sensitive sites. AMT is registered with the U.S. Department of State's Director of Defense Trade Controls, which oversees the export and import of certain products that can be used for national defense purposes. The unauthorized workers included foreign nationals from two countries - Mexico (30) and El Salvador (2). The group includes 16 men and 16 women.

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President George W. Bush has amended Executive Order 12989 in order to direct all federal departments and agencies to require contractors, as a condition of each future federal contract, to agree to use an electronic employment eligibility verification system – designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security – to verify the employment eligibility of all persons hired during the contract term and all persons performing work within the United States on the federal contract.

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A family owned commercial fishing business in Virginia and two of its owners paid $6.8 million in fines and forfeitures after pleading guilty to hiring 126 illegal aliens to work on their boats.

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WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Friday that it plans to significantly raise fines for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, part of a broader effort that includes improved border security after Congress failed to pass immigration-related legislation in 2007.

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WILMINGTON, Del.- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Tuesday the arrest of a Mexican national on federal charges that he was producing and misusing immigration documents. Pedro Altatenco-Luna had his initial appearance in federal court for the District of Delaware and was ordered held in custody. Altatenco-Luna has been charged by the United States Attorney for the District of Delaware with producing identification documents and fraud and misuse of immigration documents.

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PHOENIX — A House panel approved legislation Wednesday night designed to hit illegal immigrants where they live — literally. The Appropriations Committee voted 10-6 to make it illegal for landlords to rent to those who do not present certain documents showing they have the right to be in the United States. Violators could be fined up to $250 a day. HB 2625 now goes to the full House.

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The Department of Homeland Security, continuing to enforce what it calls a "strict policy of arresting, prosecuting and jailing" illegal immigrants, deported a record number of those caught on the nation's borders last year — more than 280,000 in fiscal year 2007 compared to 186,000 a year earlier.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. - The nation's fastest-growing group of illegal immigrants is not one that would readily come to mind. Turning stereotypes on their head, a recent federal analysis of unauthorized immigration says the most rapidly growing source of illegal immigration is India - the same country whose engineers and programmers help power Silicon Valley companies such as Google, whose doctors heal the sick, and whose entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have become a force on both sides of the international date line.

click for full article >> http://www.philly.com/inquirer/special/immigration_debate/20080330_A_fast-growing_illegal_influx_from_India.html