Illegal-hiring penalties fall Agency's focus since 9/11 has been protection of U.S. infrastructure By Lisa Friedman LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON - Penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants have all but disappeared since 1999, a federal homeland security investigator told Congress.Three U.S. employers were threatened with sanctions in 2004, compared with 162 the previous year and 417 in 1999, Richard M. Stana, director of the homeland security and justice team at the Government Accountability Office, testified Tuesday.Meanwhile, he said, the number of agents devoted to enforcing employer sanctions has dropped by more than half."Worksite enforcement has been a low...