U.S. federal agents are ready to widen a crackdown on illegal immigrants by punishing companies that hire them, it was reported on Thursday.

More than 650 businesses around the country, including nearly 50 in Los Angeles, have been notified that their records will be audited as part of the widening effort to find companies that hire illegal immigrants, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The number of notices issued on Wednesday is the largest ever in a single day and exceeds the total sent out in all of fiscal 2008, the paper said, quoting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

The notices sent are the government's first step in what could be a lengthy investigation, the paper noted.

Businesses are forbidden to hire illegal immigrants but often do so unwittingly. Employers are required to review identification and work authorization documents and to complete a form, called anI-9, recording that information for each employee. They are not required, however, to determine whether those documents are valid.

Immigration agents plan to review the I-9 forms and identification documents at all 652 companies, the paper reported.

The targeted companies are in the Los Angeles area, New York, San Antonio, Seattle and San Diego, the paper said.

The government did not release the names of any of the companies to be audited, but an ICE spokeswoman said they represent a broad range of industries.

The ICE also notified 80 companies, including three in Los Angeles, that it planned to fine them because they employ large numbers of people who do not appear to be authorized to work in the United States, according to the paper.

A government audit of one such company, Los Angeles-based American Apparel, showed that 1,600 of its roughly 10,000 employees may not be authorized to work and the employment status of 200 others could not be verified, Peter Schey, an attorney for the company, told the paper.

Source: Xinhua