The Obama administration has changed the enforcement of immigration laws to protect most illegal immigrants from deportation, giving the nation's roughly 12 million illegal immigrants de facto amnesty, according to a report by Sen. Jeff Sessions.
The report found that a 2012 Department of Homeland Security directive significantly narrowed the scope of deportation criteria, limiting it mainly to illegal immigrants with a criminal conviction and those who were physically caught crossing the border, while most other illegal immigrants are overlooked,
The Daily Caller reported.
"Under the guise of setting 'priorities,' the administration has determined that almost anyone in the world who can enter the United States is free to illegally live, work, and claim benefits here as long as they are not caught committing a felony or other serious crime," the Alabama Republican said Wednesday on release of the report.
The three-page report concludes that even those who overstay visas and illegal immigrants will not face any repercussions, according to The Daily Caller.
A "review of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's published enforcement statistics for 2013 reveals a shocking truth: DHS has blocked the enforcement of immigration law for the overwhelming majority of violations — and is planning to widen that amnesty even further," the report says.
The data in the report indicated that less than 0.2 percent of the about 12 million illegal immigrants and visa overstayers who were not convicted of a serious criminal offense were placed in removal proceedings, while 99.2 percent did not face deportation, according to The Daily Caller.
The report gave examples from both Texas and Arizona of officials releasing illegal workers "because they did not have known outstanding warrants or criminal convictions" and were considered a low priority.
"The administration's priorities have therefore provided an executive amnesty not only to the great majority of the 12 million living here illegally today (including even the most recent arrivals) but to those who will violate immigration law tomorrow," the report says.
"It is an open invitation for a future immigrant to overstay a visa, or to enter the U.S. illegally, knowing that they will be immune from enforcement as long as they avoid being convicted of a felony or other serious crime once here," the document reads, according to The Daily Caller.
President Barack Obama has been urged by some immigration advocates to stop deportations.
Earlier this month, National Council of La Raza President Janet Murguia called Obama
"the deporter-in-chief" because of an estimated 2 million deportations during his administration.
Obama this month ordered a
review of deportation practices to see whether immigration enforcement can be more humane.
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