Fully 90% of work permit applications by illegal border-crossers have been approved, a new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data for 2009 to 2014 shows.
What's more, 2.1 million of the 7.4 million work permits were granted to illegal aliens who crossed the border illegally (Entered Without Inspection).
And, 2,860 work permits were issued to aliens who were either:
- Denied asylum,
- Suspected of using fraudulent documents,
- Stowaways, or
- Refused at a port of entry.
“The categories that showed the fastest growth in issuances are some of the most controversial types of issuances,” the CIS analysis shows:
“Issuances to illegal aliens, tourists, students, and family members of temporary workers doubled over the time period. This suggests that recent policy changes with respect to these types of aliens could be responsible for the increases.”
The report finds approval rates above ninety percent for the following groups:
- Illegal border crossers: 90%
- Tourists: 93%,
- Unknown/Unreported (presumably DACA and TPS): 94%
- Students: 96%
- Dependents of H-1B guest workers: 91%
Dependents of H-1B guest workers are not authorized to work as a matter of law, CIS notes.
Jessica Vaughan, the report’s author, says the results are proof that the Obama administration is pulling an end-run around legal limits set by Congress:
"These statistics confirm the concerns raised recently in federal court, that the Obama administration is flagrantly abusing its ability to grant work permits in order to get around the limits on legal admissions that are set by Congress to protect job opportunities for Americans.”
Kenneth Palinkas, president of the 12,000-member union of government immigration caseworkers and adjudicators, has made a similar claim about how easy it is to enter the U.S. these days:
“Applications for entry are rubber-stamped, the result of grading agents by speed rather than discretion. We've become the visa clearinghouse for the world.”
Vaughan is calling on Congress to “rein in President Obama’s executive overreach”:
“This is happening on a massive scale that goes way beyond deferred action and authorized humanitarian programs. Congress should not wait for the courts to stop these harmful policies; it should take steps now to rein in President Obama's executive overreach and restore the integrity of our immigration system."
View the entire report here.