La Prensa de San Antonio — The Department of Homeland Security issues a statement Friday to put rumors to rest about expanded executive action to grant blanket amnesty for undocumented immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement Friday denying they would use executive action to grant blanket amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.
The statement was issued in response to a letter sent to the White House Monday, in which eight Republican senators inquired about the Administration’s possible “plan to unilaterally extend either deferred action or parole to millions of illegal aliens.”
The senators, Jim Bunning, R-Ky; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga; Thad Cochran, R-Miss; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; James Inhofe, R-Okla.; Johnny Isakson, R-Ga and David Vitter, R-La., raised concerns that expanding executive branch powers in this fashion would “circumvent Congress’ constitutional authority to legislate immigration policy.”
Jared Young, spokesperson for Sen. Inhofe, explained the senators wrote the letter because Senators Grassley and Cornyn were informed that the administration was pondering the use of deferred action and parole if they could not garner enough support for comprehensive immigration reform in Congress.
“This is something that needs to be dealt with through proper legislative channels and Congress, particularly as it relates to the illegal population,” Young explained. “Sen. Inhofe is interested in immigration reform as it relates to border security, but that would not include any blanket amnesty policy,” he added.
Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for NumbersUSA, a non-partisan group that favors reduced immigration, points out that if implemented, such a policy would not even require an executive order.
“Secretary Napolitano could do this with a wink and a nod from President Obama and no one would know,” she said.
Jenks added sources in Washington D.C. informed her that the Administration was considering using these special actions “on a massive scale until they can pass a large-scale amnesty for the 12 to 20 million here illegally” as a fallback if congressional legislation fails.Both deferred action and parole allow illegal immigrants to obtain work permits.
“There is overwhelming support for securing the border, making e-verify mandatory and passing enforcement – that could be done right now,” she said. “The problem the country is facing right now is that more than a million people a year come to this country, which is already four times the historical average,” she said.
Although a White House official told La Prensa Thursday the White House had not yet received the letter and could not comment, on Friday, Janet Napolitano’s DHS clarified the issue and said in a statement:
“DHS has the authority to grant a deferral of removal action based on the merits of cases while considering humanitarian circumstances and other factors in the interest of the Department’s overall law enforcement mission. However, this discretionary authority is implemented on a case-by-case basis and DHS does not grant deferred action without a review of relevant facts. To be clear, DHS will not grant deferred action to the nation’s entire illegal immigrant population…”
Finish reading DHS denies rumors that executive action will be used to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants
