Three Republican lawmakers are looking to block the Obama administration from spending taxpayer money on facilities leased to process executive amnesty caseloads.
Reps. Brian Babin (R-TX), Lou Barletta (R-PA) and John Ratcliffe (R-TX) have introduced legislation that would prohibit the Obama administration from leasing the $7.8 million, 11-story building in the Arlington, Virginia neighborhood of Crystal City or any other facility to implement executive amnesty.
“As we await further action by the federal courts, this legislation will ensure taxpayer funds can no longer be wasted on renting expensive office space for government bureaucrats to carry out the President’s illegal executive amnesty actions,” Babin said in a statement last week. “This further protects your tax dollars while advancing our fight to stop the President’s amnesty and restore the rule of law.”
The administration first leased the Crystal City facility last year, shortly after Obama announced the executive amnesty programs halted in February by a federal judge.
With the injunction in place, the administration says it has suspended implementation of all aspects of the executive amnesty programs — Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs — including using the Crystal City building for executive amnesty.
“Although federal judges have blocked President Obama’s unlawful executive amnesty for the time being, it is still important that we do all that we can to prevent its implementation,” Barletta said.
The group’s bill is called the “No Office Space for Executive Amnesty Act.”
“Not one dime of taxpayer funds should be used to fund actions that side step the Constitution. This includes leasing buildings for the purposes of supporting his policies that would provide amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants,” Ratcliffe added.
The administration has since revealed that with the injunction on its executive amnesty programs in place, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be using the Crystal City facility as a general immigration processing center called the Potomac Service Center.
A group of Republican senators earlier this month raised concerns about the need for a new processing facility, the fact that Congress was not consulted and that moving forward with the facility could violate court’s executive amnesty injunction.
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