EL PASO, Texas -- At El Pisto Food and Drink, hands are busy and skillets are hot. To keep the restaurant running in tip top shape, the owner does several things before he makes someone apart of the team.

"We just go through the proper documentation,” said Bobby Griffing, owner of El Pisto. “We do a background check on everybody that we hire."

He said those practices give him peace of mind, especially since Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are cracking down on business that hire illegal workers.

"It's the law. I don't want anybody coming down my door for any other reason then spending money on food and drink," Griffing said.

ICE leaders said they are sending out 1,000 letters to businesses across the country. The letter is a warning that the businesses will be audited to make sure the employers are not hiring illegal workers.

The ICE office in El Paso is sending out a total of 41 notices, including 32 businesses in El Paso and nine in the state of New Mexico, which it also overseas, according to Tim Counts, a spokesman for ICE.

The business that are getting the notices of inspection were selected because of investigative leads and because their businesses have a connection to public safety like transportation companies, water treatment plants, energy plants, and food processing companies.

But advocates said the crackdown is unfair.

"I think everybody knows that immigrants are not criminals they are workers,” said Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights. “The idea that you’re going to go after the people that help you build this economy, that’s a very wrong idea."

Garcia said he was hoping the Obama administration would use more of a reform approach to immigration, rather than enforcement only.

ICE workers will review the I-9 forms, which employers are required to review and record each individuals' identity and work eligibility documents.

In July, ICE officials audited 654 businesses across the country and reviewed more than 85,000 form I-9s. It resulted in 14,000 suspected documents.

To date, ICE has issued 61 Notices Of Intent To Fine, resulting in $2, 310, 255 in fines.