"Asking politely" is a euphemism. The company has a desire to receive government contracts, or to not be subject to adverse regulations, and is thereby given the choice to submit or be the subject of retaliation.

In reality it's an end-run around the court system. If the government officially penalized them for not complying, various parties would have standing to assert their rights. So the punishment isn't officially tied to the failure to submit, but the threat is still there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwest#Refusal_of_NSA_surveilla...

"Oh, your new office building looks nice. Did your construction firm get all the necessary permits? Are you sure? All of them? Oh, and I see you have a lot of new employees. A lot of them. I bet it would tie up your HR department for quite a while if the INS came by and requested documentation that all those employees are authorized to work in the US, wouldn't it?

"Anyway, I've come to ask whether you could do a favor for us."

I think it is more complicated that. It's more like asking your neighbor to borrow some sugar. Nothing nefarious, but your neighbor might later ask to borrow your ratchet set. The concern is how strong is this relationship and if there is real quid pro quo going on. It gets gray real fast when you are your neighbor's boss and control his raises.