Republicans are seizing on an internal memo they say is further evidence the Obama administration wants to bypass a gridlocked Congress and use its executive powers to grant “back-door amnesty” to thousands of illegal immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reiterated Friday that it is not seeking to grant permanent residency to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
Written by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials to the agency’s director, the memo discusses ways the administration – facing the reality that immigration reform is all but dead this year – could grant illegal immigrants permanent status, including indefinitely delaying deportation or issuing green cards.
“This memorandum offers administrative relief options to promote family unity, foster economic growth, achieve significant process improvements and reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization,” states the memo, which was addressed to Director Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations.”
The 11-page memo provides fresh ammunition to Republican lawmakers who have been questioning the administration for the past month about rumors of a plan to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country.
The document provides an additional basis for our concerns that the administration will go to great lengths to circumvent Congress and unilaterally execute a back-door amnesty plan,” Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said in a statement.
“The problem remains that if you reward illegality, you get more of it. Our first order of business must be to secure the border and enforce the laws on the books, not look for back-channel ways to reward law-breakers. ”
USCIS declined to comment on the specifics of the document but said internal draft memos, deliberation and an exchange of ideas should not be mistaken for official department policy.
“As a matter of good government, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will discuss just about every issue that comes within the purview of the immigration system,” the agency said in a statement.
“Internal memoranda help us do the thinking that leads to important changes; some of them are adopted and others are rejected. Our goal is to implement policies wisely and well to strengthen all aspects of our mission.”
Comprehensive immigration reform, coupled with border security, remains the best solution to the country’s broken immigration system, USCIS said.
“To be clear, DHS will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation’s entire illegal immigrant population,” the agency said.
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