The administration has also boosted welfare programs for legal and illegal immigrants and has redefined nearly all welfare programs to bypass laws barring welfare-receiving immigrants from residency or citizenship.
The Internal Revenue Service has also rolled back oversight of fraud in a program intended to handle immigrants taxes and refunds, according to an investigation by the IRS inspector general. The program provided $6.8 billion in refunds to immigrants, said an Aug. 8 report in The Washington Times.
Illegal immigrants were fraudulently given $4.2 billion in 2010 child-support tax credits, according to a July 2011 report by the Treasury Department’s inspector general. In 2012, that illegal claims likely will reach $7.4 billion, said the report.
In 2012, top Senate Democrats blocked a reform of the refund process.
Administration officials have rolled back enforcement of immigration laws, and have directed immigration-officers to release illegals, including some who have been approved by judges for deportation.
In recent months, the administration has offered what conservatives call a de-facto amnesty to an estimated 1.76 million illegal immigrants, including an estimated 350,000 illegals with little or no high-school education. The policy will more easily grant work permits, and will allow them to compete for jobs against 23 million unemployed or under-employed Americans.
The two-year amnesty, dubbed “deferred action,” is being offered free to illegal immigrants, including people also schedule for deportation. However, the illegals will have to pay the standard cost of $465 for the work permit.
The amnesty will not include convicted felons, drunk drivers or people who committed a series of felonies.
However, immigrant officers will not try to find out if amnesty applicants have committed crimes, such as identity theft, an administration official said Aug. 6. “We want to maximize participation.”
