USCIS, a union that represents roughly 12,000 officers in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, made waves this week when it disclosed that the U.S. government had ordered enough supplies to make roughly 34 million immigrant work permits and residency cards, presumably to meet needs that could be brought on by President Obama’s seemingly imminent executive amnesty order.
According to Fox News, “The U.S. government produces about 3 million work permits and residency identification, known as green cards, annually. The new contract for at least 5 million cards a year would provide the administration with the flexibility to issue far more work permits or green cards even if it chose not to exercise that option.”
The Obama administration claims the order had nothing to do with any executive action plans, but relates to the so-called “Gang of Eight” comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate but stalled in the House.
“Solicitations of this nature are frequent practice for USCIS contracts and allow the Agency to be prepared for fluctuations in the number of immigration applications received, which can arise for a number of reasons,” administration spokesman Christopher Bentley said in a statement. “For this particular solicitation, USCIS analyzed, during the spring of 2013, the pending comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the U.S. Senate to determine the surge capacity needed. This estimate had nothing to do with immigration relief actions planned by the president.”
But Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) isn’t buying the administration’s explanation.
On Tuesday, Sessions, who has been the leading voice against Democrats’ immigration proposals in recent years, sounded the alarm over the solicitation for 34 million green cards and work permits, which he believes are indeed to institute executive immigration orders.
“This revelation provides startling confirmation of the crisis facing our Republic,” Sessions said. “The President is preparing to issue work authorization and ‘legal’ status to millions of individuals illegally present in the country, in violation of plain statute. His planned executive immigration order will nullify the immigration laws of the United States and its sovereign people. But rather than defend the legal rights and jobs of their constituents, Senate Democrats have surrendered them to this lawless scheme. The remedy lies in the hands of the voting public.”
The dustup comes just a week before election day, when Americans will decide who controls the U.S. Senate. Republicans need to pickup 6 seats to regain the majority.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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