Today’s LA Daily Journal reports that Federal officials are investigating the origins of a letter sent to Los Angeles-area employers falsely instructing them to check their employees' immigration status. The LA Daily Journal sought the comments of AILA President Bernard P. Wolfsdorf, who notes that the bogus distribution of such a letter “is clearly a criminal fraud.” In the article, Mr. Wolfsdorf states, "I can only hope the authorities will thoroughly investigate this to ensure clear and accurate guidance is provided to employers." Mr. Wolfsdorf expresses particular concern over the timing of the current incident, explaining that “[t]his is not the first time such activity has taken place, but pulling this at a time when ICE is attempting to focus on employers' immigration compliance is extremely concerning, and quite frankly dangerous." Mr. Wolfsdorf is referring to recent actual initiatives by the Department of Homeland Security to crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers, including its recent issuance of I-9 audit notices to over 650 businesses nationwide. (See Mr. Wolfsdorf's AILA leadership blog "ICE CRACKS AUDIT WHIP")

This information and content was extracted from the July 27, 2009, LA Daily Journal article entitled "Forgery Queried Employers On Their Workers' Legal Status" authored by Daily Journal Staff Writer, Sandra Hernandez.