Washington, D.C. – Obama administration officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced their plan to move forward with the rulemaking process to allow illegal immigrant spouses and children with U.S. citizen relatives to stay in the United States while the federal government decides on their waiver request. Under current law, illegal immigrants must leave the country before they can ask the federal government to waive the three and 10 year bars on legally coming back to the United States. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) released the statement below criticizing the proposed change.
Chairman Smith: “President Obama is bending long established immigration laws to grant backdoor amnesty to potentially millions of illegal immigrants. Congress has defeated amnesty attempts several times in recent years. According to a recent poll, two-thirds of Americans want to see immigration laws enforced, not ignored. Once again, President Obama is rewarding law breakers and disrespecting the rule of law.”
Congress instituted the three and 10 year bars in 1996 to provide a penalty for immigrants who had been illegally present in the U.S. for long periods of time. While the waiver of these bars is legal under current law, it is not intended to be applied to millions of illegal immigrants.
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