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Obama plan on illegal immigrants to cost $585 million

Dunya News

Obama plan to grant work permits to 1 million illegal immigrants may cost more than $585m.

.More than 1 million requests are anticipated, according to internal documents obtained by AP.The program announced by President Barack Obama last month has been criticized by Republicans as a backdoor amnesty but praised by some immigration advocacy groups as the government continues to wrestle with the vast and complicated issue of immigration.Under the plan, eligible immigrants must have arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday, are 30 or younger, have been living in the U.S. at least five years and are in school or graduated or served in the military. They also must not have a criminal record or otherwise pose a safety threat. They can apply to stay in the country and be granted a work permit for two years, but they would not be granted citizenship.The Homeland Security Department plans, marked not for distribution, describe how the government will manage the program. Illegal immigrants can request permission to stay in the country and apply for a work permit starting Aug. 15.Waivers of the plans $465 paperwork fee could dramatically affect the governments share of the cost. The plans said there would be no waivers, but Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Congress last week that the government would grant waivers in very deserving cases.The documents said that, depending on how many applicants dont pay, the government could lose between $19 million and $121 million. Republican critics pounced on that.By lowering the fee or waiving it altogether for illegal immigrants, those who play by the rules will face delays and large backlogs as attention is diverted to illegal immigrants, said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith. American taxpayers should not be forced to bail out illegal immigrants and President Obamas fiscally irresponsible policies.U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimated it could receive more than 1 million applications during the first year of the program, or more than 3,000 per day. It would cost the government between $467 million and $585 million to process applications in the first two years of the program, with revenues from fees paid by immigrants estimated at $484 million, according to the documents.The government estimated that as many as 890,000 immigrants in the first year would be immediately eligible to avoid deportation.Once immigrants submit their applications, it could take between two and 10 days for the Homeland Security Department to scan and file it. It could take up to four weeks longer to make an appointment for immigrants to submit their fingerprints and take photographs. A subsequent background check could take six more weeks, then three more months for the government to make its final decision before a work permit would be issued.Napolitano said new information about the program should be made available by Aug. 1. She has said immigrants would generally not be detained by immigration authorities while their application is pending.