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A union of more than 12,000 immigration agents is opposing the Senate’s version of comprehensive immigration reform, the beginning of a week in which supporters hoped the bill could pass the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, which represents the agents who issue and handle immigration documents, is for the first time joining the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council and will announce its position against the bill on Monday, according to NBC News and other reports
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Combined, the two unions represent 20,000 Department of Homeland Security employees charged with enforcing the nation’s immigration laws. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council represents deportation agents.
“The culture at USCIS encourages all applications to be approved, discouraging proper investigation into red flags and discouraging the denial of any applications,” National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council President Kenneth Palinkas wrote in a release announcing the group’s opposition.
The opposition of the National CIS Council is a boost to the bill’s opponents in the Senate, and to National ICE Council President Chris Crane, who has become a loud and prominent voice against the legislation, but had found himself alone among federal law enforcement unions in opposition. Palinkas said he would sign a letter Crane sent to Senators earlier this month declaring the Gang of Eight legislation “fails to meet the needs of the law enforcement community.”
