Pres. Obama has made cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers a focal point of his immigration reform plan, but a new audit shows that the administration is anything but tough on unscrupulous employers. According to the audit by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, administration officials have cut fines by an average of 40%.

According to the audit, one business had it's fine of $4.9 million reduced to just over $1 million - a 78% reduction.

"The knowledge that fines can be significantly reduced may diminish the effectiveness of fines as a deterrent to hiring unauthorized workers," the inspector general said.

The Obama administration shifted enforcement from the illegal-alien workers themselves to the employers that hire them by beefin up audits of I-9 forms. The Bush administration focused on the workers after his amnesty efforts in 2006-07 failed. Pres. Obama even discussed fines for businesses that hire illegal aliens during his 2013 State of the Union address.

"It means cracking down more forcefully on businesses that knowingly hire undocumented workers...And if they still knowingly hire undocumented workers, then we need to ramp up the penalties," Pres. Obama said.

The inspector general's report found that ICE sent notices for fines totaling more than $52.7 million from 2009 to 2012, but only charged $31.2 million.

For more on this story, see the Washington Times.