Obama Admin Scrambles to Recoup Illegally Issued Amnesty Documents

The Obama administration is again warning illegal immigrants who were issued three-year work permits — in violation of a court order — to return those documents immediately or else find their deferred status terminated.

In an effort to aid potentially noncompliant illegal immigrants, this week the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released new resources aimed at determining whether they are one of the 2,600 who have been illegally issued three-year Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) via the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA recipients are currently allowed two-year EAD.

“If you fail to return your card, USCIS will terminate your DACA and all employment authorizations effective July 31, 2015,” USCIS warned in an email Monday, emphasis theirs.

The resources include a new online tool into which beneficiaries can enter their DACA information to learn whether they will need to return their documents for two-year permits. USCIS is also offering a “quick facts” webpage, and a fact sheet in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

“If you have not been contacted by USCIS and you received a three-year card after February 16, 2015, you should use the new online tool or call the USCIS Customer Service line at 800-375-5283 and select option 1 for English, then option 8 to verify whether you are affected BEFORE returning your card,” the agency advised in their email.

The new tools come as the Obama administration scrambles to recoup the illegally issued documents. The administration has issued 2,600 three-year work permits in violation of a federal district court’s injunction halting President Obama’s executive amnesty programs — expanded DACA and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). USCIS says it is replacing the three-year EADs with two-year ones.

The judge who halted the programs in February, Judge Andrew Hanen, has said he will call top Obama immigration officials into court to explain the violations to his injunction if the agency has not come into compliance to the court’s satisfaction by July 31.

Earlier this month, USCIS said it is also conducting home visits to those illegal immigrants who have yet to return their erroneous three-year permits.