Citing the destruction of Superstorm Sandy, the Obama administration has waived immigration laws for illegal immigrants now in the United States, arguing that the immigrants’ ability to maintain their lawful immigration status or obtain other immigration benefits may have been hampered by the deadly storm.

Through the Department of Homeland Security, the administration said “eligible individuals” may request or apply for temporary relief measures, including extensions of non-immigrant status for those in the United States even though their authorized period of admission has expired.

But Janice Kephart, a former counsel to the 9/11 commission, said that while the effects of Sandy, including death; loss of electricity and gas; and the destruction of entire communities from the water surge, was tragic, “not one of these issues pertaining to natural disaster has anything whatsoever to do with immigration or immigration benefits.”

“The latest in Obama orders is just another in a long, now-expected litany of excuses to achieve amnesty, person by person, across the illegal alien community,” said Ms. Kephart, who is director of national security policy at the Center for Immigration Studies. “Meanwhile, our borders remain insecure, and after decades of no Border Patrol deaths, as of last week in Texas, this administration has three law enforcement deaths on its hands. This administration is about what it can do for the illegal population, and not much else.”

Read more: Sandy blows a reprieve to illegals in U.S. - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/5/sandy-blows-a-reprie...