Visits by federal immigration authorities are spooking California businesses and workers

When federal immigration agents visited Los Angeles 7-Eleven stores and trucking companies near the ports in recent weeks to conduct audits of employee records, it sent a chill through those businesses and others in the region.

Immigrant advocates said some employees at the audited firms stopped coming to work. Workers at other companies worried they could be next. And their employers were concerned — or confused — enough that trade groups and attorneys distributed tip sheets advising companies of what federal and state law requires them to do as the Trump administration and California wage war over immigration policy.

"There is a heightened level of stress and anxiety," said Alexandra Suh, executive director of the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, which helps low-wage immigrant workers in the Los Angeles neighborhood. "Even just the request for documentation caused a number of workers to quit on the spot."

Here's a look at what's behind the federal activity, and how i
 Source: latimes