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WDCPIX.COM
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, believes the Obama administration could be planning to grant “large-scale, de facto amnesty” to millions of undocumented immigrants, and in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, calls such efforts an attempt to “bypass Congress and the legislative process.”
Last month, Grassley and a group of seven other GOP Senators wrote a letter to President Barack Obama alleging his administration plans to, “unilaterally extend either deferred action or parole to millions of illegal aliens in the United States.” Deferred action and parole give immigrants the ability to seek a work permit and temporary legal status.
“We would appreciate receiving a commitment that the administration has no plans to use either authority to change the current position of a large group of illegal aliens already in the United States, and ask that you respond to us about this matter as soon as possible,” Grassley’s letter said.
The Department of Homeland Security quickly denied any such plans exist. Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, called Grassley’s allegations, “political hype and hypocrisy,” saying no evidence exists that any sort of blanket amnesty plan was ever the works.
Monday, Grassley followed up with a new letter, this time to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, demanding the agency turn over information showing how it has been using its authority.
“News articles report that your department has denied the charge, stating that grants of parole or deferred removal are based on the merits of individual cases,” the latest letter says. “While we have not personally been assured that plans have not been drawn up, we are interested in data that will guarantee the American people that the administration is not using these discretionary actions in cases that are not urgent or based on humanitarian reasons.”
Giovagnoli said the Republican Senators are helping “perpetuate an urban legend of massive proportions,” calling the idea that the president could use some sort of backdoor method to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants, “extremely far fetched.”
“The resources and tools needed to make something like this happen just aren’t there, especially because any kind of mass program like the one envisioned in this letter would essentially require a registration and reviewing process to determine who was actually qualified to remain,” Giovagnoli said in a piece last month for AlterNet.org. “Absent legislative action, the financial resources needed to carry out something of this scope would be difficult to procure.”
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