Mark Your Calendar: August 15 is "Anti-American Labor Day"

No one is surprised but millions of Americans are disappointed and angry. The estimated number of work permits to be issued to alien DREAMers now stands at 1.8 million.

On June 15, when President Obama announced his unconstitutional executive order to remove certain aliens age 16-30 from deportation, the White House established 800,000 as the target. But upon closer inspection, analysts predicted that the actual number would be 1.2 million. After still further study, 1.8 million will become quasi-permanent residents and receive the added bonus of being able to enter the workforce to compete head-to-head with nearly 20 million unemployed or underemployed Americans.

Another update: the beneficiaries of coveted work permits are no longer referred to as DREAMers but rather “Childhood Arrivals” and, accordingly, the title of the president’s initiative is “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.”

According to a August 7 Migration Policy Institute (MPI) press release, the revised estimate reflects “the updated DHS guidelines that youth lacking a high school or GED degree would be eligible to apply for deferred action as long as they have re-enrolled by the date of their application.” (Read MPI fact sheet here.)

From the DHS information, MPI estimates that 350,000 illegal immigrants (ages 16 and older) without a high school degree or GED (in other words, high school drop outs) could potentially be removed from the possibility of deportation and would also receive work authorization, the same is as if they were legal immigrants.

Aliens will be immune from deportation if they were (allegedly) brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, have completed – or are in the process of completing – high school or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed. One thing of which you can be sure, as weeks pass more upward estimates will be forthcoming.  [Estimate of Undocumented Immigrants Who Could Avoid Deportation Rises, by Elizabeth Llorente, Fox News Latino, August 7, 2012]

There are, however, no set DHS guidelines for confirming any of the information the aliens present; the entire process is open to massive fraud. Aliens will not have to appear personally so many of the conclusions DHS will make about eligibility will be based on good faith, rarely a dependable barometer.

The president’s staggering audacity to unilaterally pardon million of aliens and then reward them with highly coveted work permits shocks even the most hardened and cynical  Capitol Hill observers. Obama, in a demonstration of absolute power, bypassed Congress which has the sole responsibility for immigration legislation.  In fact, since 2001 when it was first introduced, Congress under both Republican and Democratic control defeated the DREAM Act multiple times.

The childhood arrivals programs has not had Congressional oversight hearings, cost analysis or impact, studies or any other form of debate that would have exposed its detrimental effect on Americans especially the unemployed. The California Congressional contingent has been, as it always is, silent about the latest alien outrage even though the state has more “childhood arrivals” than any other. In nine counties that surround the San Francisco Bay area, there are more Obama beneficiaries than in all of Arizona. [65,000 Bay Area Immigrants Could Benefit from Deportation Policy, Study Says, by Matt O’Brien, Mercury News, August 6, 2012]

Although California has some patriotic immigration reform allies in the House, most representatives are at best disappointing. Kevin McCarthy, for example, the influential Republican Majority whip refused to take action to bring the Legal Workforce Act to the House floor for a full vote. The bill would make E-Verify mandatory and would open up millions of jobs for unemployed Americans who aliens have displaced.

John Garamendi is one of dozens who have flat out subverted immigration law by advocating for open borders and more aliens entitlements. Garamendi’s NumbersUSA.com immigration grade is F- CAPS has launched a television ad in Sacramento urging concerned citizens to ask Garamendi why he’s willing to admit 1 million legal immigrants each year to take jobs from Americans. See it here. See the Garamendi ad here.

DHS has established August 15 as the target date to formally accept applications. CAPS recommends that you mark your calendar with a large “X” and note that it’s “Anti-American Labor Day.”