The Obama administration’s Department of Homeland Security is hiring 1,000 new employees and has secured new office space to implement provisions of the November executive order on immigration. The Washington Times reports:
And even though Mr. Obama said his policy is temporary, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is hiring the employees for permanent positions, at salaries of up to $157,000 a year, according to the job postings listed on the official federal jobs website.
“USCIS is taking steps to open a new operational center in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, to accommodate about 1,000 full-time, permanent federal and contract employees in a variety of positions and grade levels,” the agency said in an internal email to employees on Monday. “The initial workload will include cases filed as a result of the executive actions on immigration announced on Nov. 20, 2014.”
Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican and leading opponent of the executive order, released a statement in reaction to the Times report.
“This facility is a clear symbol of the President’s defiance of the American people, their laws, and their Constitution. He is hiring federal employees to carry out a directive that violates the laws Congress has passed in order to foist on the nation laws Congress has repeatedly refused to pass,” said Sessions. “Year after year, our annual spending bills include numerous restrictions on how federal money can and cannot be spent. Congress funds programs that are worthy and does not fund programs it deems unworthy. The President cannot spend money unless the Congress approves it, and certainly the Congress should not approve funds for an illegal amnesty.”
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, however, appear inclined to pass a funding bill in the lame duck session that funds the entire government but gives the next Congress the ability to revisit funds for DHS.
