San Francisco Chronicle
by Debra J. Saunders

WORKING from his Woodland Hills home office, gadfly Carl Olson is on a mission that should not be as impossible as it seems: He wants local and state governments to follow the law.

Olson, of the watchdog group State Department Watch, has been showing up at board meetings for government entities -- the Ventura County Board of Education, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Los Angeles Community College District -- and asking board members what they are doing to prevent hiring illegal immigrants. Specifically, he wants to know if they use the free federal Basic Pilot program, which private employers can use to see if job applicants are authorized to work in the United States.

full story