HAZLETON - U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-11, unveiled Monday steps he is taking to "halt the Obama Administration's unprecedented push to grant de facto amnesty to between 800,000 and 1.4 million illegal aliens."
During a press conference, Barletta said he wants two House committees - judiciary and homeland security - to investigate Obama and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano's "improper use" of prosecutorial discretion in the granting of indefinitely renewable two-year work permits to illegal aliens who meet certain criteria, according to a press release from Barletta's office.
He also introduced two new pieces of legislation Friday in Washington:
- H.R. 6070, which will require a study to determine the effects this immigration policy shift would have on national security, fraud, the American worker, American students the and economy, including the impact on a wide range of government programs, including unemployment benefits, Social Security, Medicare, the new health care law, federal grants for college, work-study programs and more. The secretary of Homeland Security would not be allowed to implement the June 15 policy memorandum until the study is completed and submitted to Congress.
- H.R. 6069, which will protect DHS personnel who continue to uphold current immigration policy and refuse to follow the June 15 memo because it violates the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act. DHS employees who enforce federal immigration law and ignore Secretary Napolitano's memorandum could not lose their job, federal benefits, be denied a promotion, or other similar benefit.
He called the memo a "dangerous unilateral shift in our national immigration policy."