An immigration reform organization says it 's outrageous that the Obama administration has so quickly approved the first wave of amnesty applications for young illegal immigrants.
The Obama administration circumvented the legislative process in creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It allows children who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents to obtain an amnesty if they meet certain educational requirements.
Now just three weeks after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services started accepting applications, a small group of illegal aliens have been granted amnesty. The government originally said it could take months for each application to be reviewed and approved.
Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, describes the problems with the situation.
"It certainly raises some very valid questions of whether the Department of Homeland Security is doing its homework, really making sure that the people who are applying for this benefit are entitled to it, number one; and number two, [that they] don't pose any threat to the American public," he remarks.
Mehlman says there is little question that the whole administrative amnesty effort is being done to energize Hispanic voters.
"All the polls indicate that President Obama has a fairly substantial lead over Governor Romney among Hispanic voters," he tells OneNewsNow. "They are a natural Democratic constituency. What the president, I guess, feels is that in a close election even motivating a small number of additional voters to turn out on Election Day really could turn the election."
However, Mehlman says Obama's plan could backfire by motivating other voters opposed to amnesty.