ImmigrationDeportation deferment executive order to cost between $467 million and $585 million
On 15 June the administration issues an executive order deferring deportation against illegal immigrants who were brought into the United States as kids by their parents, and who now go to school or have graduated from school; illegal aliens eligible to apply can begin to do so in August, and DHS estimates that in the first year of the program, about a million or so would do so; the processing cost would be as high as $585 million; each applicant will be expected to pay $465 in paperwork processing fee, but even if all do, there will be a shortfall
On 15 June the administration issues an executive order deferring deportation against illegal immigrants who were brought into the United States as kids by their parents, and who now go to school or have graduated from school. The order is similar to the Dream Act which President Obama championed.
DHS says that in the first year alone, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – CIS — could receive more than a million applications from illegal aliens who are eligible to apply, and that processing these applications would cost between $467 million and $585 million.
Most of that sum would be recouped by fees paid by applicants ($465 paperwork processing fee per applicants), but even if all of them pay the fee, there is likely to be a shortfall. The shortfall would grow if, as DHS secretary Janet Napolitano said the other day, DHS would waive the processing fee for “deserving” applicants.
Napolitano made her statement after DHS said there would be no waivers.
Republican legislators were quick to voice an alarm. Fox News quotes House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith to say that, “By lowering the fee or waiving it altogether for illegal immigrants, those who play by the rules will face delays and large backlogs as attention is diverted to illegal immigrants…. American taxpayers should not be forced to bail out illegal immigrants and President Obama’s fiscally irresponsible policies.”
DHS, though, insists that the program “will not require any taxpayer dollars.” Department’s spokesman Matthew Chandler also noted that the process is “not final.”
“Preliminary documents should not be confused with final operational decisions, and any cost estimates do not reflect final decisions of the department or the actual volume of requests,” he said. “As the administration has repeatedly made clear, USCIS is a fee-based agency and the adjudication of deferred action application requests will not use taxpayer dollars.”
DHS estimates that under the plan’s provisions, as many as 890,000 immigrants in the first year would be immediately eligible to avoid deportation.
