WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued about 2,000 three-year work permits to illegal immigrants in violation of a court injunction, USCIS Director Leon Rodrigues said on Wednesday.
“USCIS failed to prevent the release of approximately 2,000 three-year EADs [Employment Authorization Document] for individuals eligible for 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) once the agency’s initial February 17 freeze on all EADs was lifted, and thereafter erroneously issued a small number of three-year EADs due to manual errors,” Rodrigues said in a written testimony.
The testimony was filed with the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, as well as the Subcommittee on National Security.
In November 2014, the White House announced a plan to shield as many as five million undocumented immigrants from deportation and grant them the right to obtain US work permit. The executive action expanded DACA eligibility for illegal immigrants meeting certain requirements.
The lawsuit resulted in a US District Judge in February 2015 issuing a temporary ban on immigration action, including granting work permission to illegal immigrants meeting certain requirements.
Rodrigues said USCIS converted the wrongly issued three-year work permits to two years and will take additional precautions to minimize errors in the future.
“I am confident that USCIS has taken the actions necessary to correct the mistake and prevent similar issues in the future,” Rodrigues added.
The US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson requested an investigation of the incident, according to the testimony.
Between the immigration policy announcement and the date of the injunction, US authorities had granted approximately 108,000 three-year work permits, according to the USCIS.
