U.S. Extends Amnesty to “Battered Spouses”

Weeks after granting illegal immigrants in Flint, Michigan a special reprieve from deportation over the area’s water crisis, the Obama administration has quietly expanded its boundless amnesty to award undocumented aliens with work authorization if they claim to be “battered spouses.” The administration appears to be getting quite creative to meet its goal of implementing a far-flung amnesty that will ultimately apply to all of the millions living in the U.S. illegally.

Judicial Watch has reported on this many times in the last few years. Besides the broad protection the president has offered illegal immigrants, he’s created a number of special categories to help and shield specific groups. Special amnesties have been created in the last few years for Haitians affected by the 2010 earthquake, illegal aliens affected by hurricane Sandy in 2012, Ebola in 2015 and floods or “severe weather,” earlier this year. Just last week the administration extended the “temporary” Ebola amnesty for illegal immigrants from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In the announcement the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) writes that although there have been “significant improvements” the lingering effects of the Ebola Virus and “continued recovery challenges” support the extension, which protects illegal aliens from those countries for an additional six months.

Last month DHS implemented an amnesty initiative in Michigan at the behest of open-borders groups and pro-immigrant Spanish media in the aftermath of the Flint water crisis. The problem arose after a switch in 2014 in the city’s water source to save money. Soon complaints mounted that the water smelled and looked strange and academic researchers discovered that it was toxic. The feds stepped in, supplying the area with free bottled water and special filters to install at home until the local water supply is clean. For weeks immigrant rights groups complained that residents had to show identification to receive their free goods from the government and illegal aliens were being left out. National Spanish-language media outlets blasted the Obama administration for discriminating against illegal aliens and reported that undocumented immigrants weren’t getting help for fear of being deported. DHS responded by guaranteeing that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would not conduct enforcement operations at or near locations distributing clean water in Flint or surrounding areas. “Moreover, DHS officials do not and will not pose as individuals providing water-related information or distributing clean water as part of any enforcement activities,” the statement assures. The agency’s priority is to support state and local government efforts to distribute clean water, the statement says, adding that DHS stands “ready to assist those in need.”

This month’s amnesty du jour will shield illegal aliens who assert they or their children have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty perpetrated by a spouse. “Abused spouses of nonimmigrants who were admitted to the U.S. under visas for foreign government diplomats and officials, specialty occupation workers, temporary and nonagricultural workers, and others are eligible to apply,” according to the DHS announcement. The determination of what evidence is credible and how much weight is given to such evidence is within the discretion of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the DHS agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States. In the announcement USCIS notes that it will “consider any and all credible evidence relevant to the application.” Those granted battered spouse amnesty will be rewarded with employment authorization so they can start a new life in the U.S.

Besides protecting small subgroups of illegal aliens from deportation, the administration has also implemented a broad amnesty initiative that Judicial Watch has reported on extensively. Even after a federal judge blocked the president’s amnesty order last year, the administration continued working behind the scenes to quickly award multi-million-dollar contracts to firms that could expeditiously process millions of illegal immigrants. The court ruling didn’t stop the administration from moving forward with its plan to seal large contracts with hundreds of companies that will process millions of illegal immigrants as soon as possible. In fact, JW obtained the pricing spreadsheets that listed tens of thousands of work hours involving the processing of millions of illegal aliens, including tasks such as program management, file operations and maintenance as well as Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) scanning.