Data indicate lax enforcement against employers

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration, which is vowing to crack down on US companies that hire illegal immigrants, virtually abandoned such employer sanctions before it began pushing to overhaul US immigration laws last year, government figures show.

In light of the government's record, analysts on all sides of the debate are expressing doubt the administration will be able to remove the American job magnet that attracts illegal immigrants.

Between 1999 and 2003, worksite enforcement operations were scaled back 95 percent by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which subsequently was merged into the Homeland Security Department. The number of employers prosecuted for unlawfully employing immigrants dropped from 182 to four, and fines collected declined from $3.6 million to $212,000, according to federal data. In 1999, the United States initiated fines against 417 companies. In 2004, it issued fine notices to three.

The government's steady retreat from workplace enforcement in the 20 years since it became illegal to hire undocumented workers is the result of fierce political pressure from business lobbies, immigrant rights groups, and members of Congress, according to law enforcement veterans.