5.5 Million New Work Permits Issued Since 2009
Government Data Reveal 5.5 Million New Work Permits Issued Since 2009
By Jessica Vaughan February 2015
Download a PDF of this Backgrounder
Jessica M. Vaughan is director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.
http://cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/W...torization.png
Government data reveal that more than 5.5 million new work permits were issued to aliens from 2009 to 2014, above and beyond the number of new green card and temporary worker admissions in those years.
This is a huge parallel immigrant work authorization system outside the limits set by Congress that inevitably impacts opportunities for U.S. workers, damages the integrity of the immigration system, and encourages illegal immigration.
Approximately 1.8 million new work permits were issued to aliens with temporary visas or those who entered under the Visa Waiver Program.
Of these, about 1.2 million (67 percent) had a visa status for which employment is not authorized by law.
For example, more than 470,000 work permits were issued to aliens on tourist visas and 532,000 were issued to foreign students.
More than 156,000 were issued to dependents of students and guestworkers, all in categories not authorized for employment by law.
In addition, 963,000 new work permits were issued to aliens who have been granted permanent status or have a status that will lead to a green card.
These are primarily refugees (418,000), fiancés of U.S. citizens (164,000), and approved asylum applicants (174,000).About 982,000 new work permits were issued in this time period to illegal aliens or aliens unqualified for admission.
Of these, 957,000 were aliens who crossed the border illegally (Entered Without Inspection).
Inexplicably, 1,200 new work permits were issued to aliens who were denied asylum, were suspected of using fraudulent documents, were stowaways, or were refused at a port of entry.
A huge number of work permits, 1.7 million, were issued to aliens whose status was unknown, not recorded by the adjudicator, or not disclosed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that processes the applications.
This should be a concern; work permits are gateway documents to driver's licenses and other benefits, and if the government agency issuing them does not know or will not disclose how the bearer arrived in the country how can others rely on the authenticity of an individual's identity?
It is equally disconcerting if the government does know and chooses not to disclose it.
These statistics were obtained from USCIS in a Freedom of Information Act request. Status classifications are based on information from the application that is entered into USCIS databases.
The agency chose to provide the data according to classifications that prevent computing the number of deferred action-based applications, illegal aliens who are in deportation proceedings, asylum applicants whose cases are pending, or aliens whose green card applications are not yet approved.
It is likely that these case types are found in the categories of "EWI" and "Unknown/Not Reported". The figures reported here include only new work permits, not counting renewal or replacement cards issued.
These statistics indicate that the executive branch is operating a huge parallel immigrant work authorization system outside the bounds of the laws and limits written by Congress.
It inevitably reduces job opportunities for Americans. In addition, allowing work permits to be issued to illegal aliens and temporary visitors damages the integrity of the legal immigration system and encourages illegal immigration.
Congress has an opportunity this week to prevent the issuance of the next five million work permits if it votes to withhold funds for USCIS to implement President Obama's executive action plans.http://cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/v...permits-t1.jpg
http://cis.org/government-data-revea...w-work-permits
Sen. Jeff Sessions Calls For Investigation Into ‘Shadow’ Work Authorization System
by Caroline May
2 Feb 2015
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) is calling for an investigation into the recently exposed “shadow” work authorization system, in which the Obama administration has allowed millions more immigrants than Congress mandated to obtain work permits.
“This massive increase in the labor supply has occurred simultaneously with a steep drop in family incomes and a sharp rise in the number of Americans pushed out of the workforce,” Sessions said in a statement Monday. “All jobs gains since the recession have gone to foreign workers, while the slack labor market has depressed median family incomes almost $5,000 in that time.”
Sessions was reacting to new data revealed in a Center for Immigration report, showing that since 2009 the Obama administration has issued 5.5 million new work permits, more than the 1.1 million legal immigrants and 700,000 guest workers allowed into the to the U.S. annually.
CIS obtained the data via a Freedom of Information Act and, according to Sessions, the “shadow immigration system” should be investigated.
“A full investigation is warranted. In addition to the widespread non-enforcement of existing immigration law—such as the public charge rule—we know now the Administration has been issuing millions of additional work permits beyond what Congress has authorized,” he said.
The Alabama Republican further highlighted Tuesday’s vote on a House-passed Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that defunds Obama’s executive amnesty. Sessions stressed that lawmakers must vote keeping the interests of the people they represent in mind. That would mean passing the bill.
“Any Senator who votes to block debate is voting to deny their constituents the protections of their own laws,” Sessions said. “Blocking debate on this bill is to block your own constituent’s voice in the affairs of their government.”
Sessions further argued that the coming debate on the DHS bill will shed more light on where Democrats stand on the issue.
“Congress passed limitations on immigration and rules for residing in the United States, in order to protect the economic interests of all U.S. workers—both immigrant and native-born,” he said. “Month after month, the Administration has systemically dismantled U.S. immigration laws without evoking a word of protest from members of the President’s party. The coming days will test whether congressional Democrats can claim to represent American workers, or whether they will complete their transformation into the party of open borders.”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...zation-system/
