DHS scrambles to prepare to process millions of immigrants

Job seekers in the D.C. metroplex may want to add the Department of Homeland Security to their list of potential employers. The administration is looking to hire 1,000 DHS workers to help process millions of additional immigrants under Obama's recent executive actions when the agency begins accepting applications for amnesty in late February.

The agency plans to launch the first phase of the project on Feb. 20 by accepting roughly 290,000 applications under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Fox News reports. By May, they'll start working to process an estimated 3.7 million parents of U.S. citizens and legal residents.

Ken Palinkas, president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council (NCISC), the union which represents USCIS employees, told Fox that less than six weeks is not enough time "to hire, vet, and train these new employees."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"I've been working in government for 15 years, and I know things don't get done on time," Palinkas said.

Supporters of the program, however, say that USCIS, which has been processing DACA applicants since 2012, is prepared for the influx of applicants. DHS officials say there has been a sweeping effort to prepare for the surge, which they've been anticipating for some time.

In the meantime, Congressional Republicans will this week be debating legislation that would essentially defund Obama's immigration action.