The top lawyer at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reportedly resigned a week after it was revealed that the Obama administration is quietly planning to issue an illegal amnesty executive order, which would eventually issue millions of new ID cards and work authorization permits to immigrants.
Despite President Obama claiming that he would wait until after the elections, Breitbart News discovered and reported on Sunday that the Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) has issued a procurement request for as many as 34 million work permits and green cards, prompting speculations that the president is getting ready to sign an executive order that could offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, The Hill reported.
Now, it has been exclusively revealed by Breitbart that ICE's principal legal advisor informed his colleagues that he will be resigning.
"I have decided that the time is right for me to make a change and to move on to other opportunities and challenges," he wrote in an email sent on Tuesday afternoon.
Although Peter S. Vincent failed to provide a specific reason for his resignation in the email, Breitbart speculates that the timing of his announcement could point toward Obama's decision to issue the amnesty by circumventing Congress.
However, the report was denied by Gillian Christensen, a spokeswoman for ICE.
"Any insinuation that his departure is a reflection on ICE efforts to focus resources through prosecutorial discretion, or any possible administrative action related to immigration reform is inaccurate and a discredit to the tireless work he has performed for the agency over the past six years," Christensen said.
Vincent's "true passion lies in legal and international affairs and that is what he is planning to pursue in the next phase of his career," she added.
Specifically, Vincent played a vital role as senior counselor for international policy when Obama's "Deferred Action for Childhood" program was issued in 2012, including issuing 2011 guidance to ICE lawyers about the program, according to Breitbart.
"As I have often said, much of what we do at ICE to protect the homeland is, for better or worse, guaranteed to upset exactly 50 percent of the public, 100 percent of the time. You, more than any other group of dedicated professionals and committed public servants, are best suited and ideally situated to handle the incredibly delicate balance of protecting the homeland while, at the same time, remaining sensitive to compelling humanitarian concerns," he said.
"Mr. Vincent has been a proud and valued member of ICE's leadership team and his contributions will be greatly missed by the agency," Christensen said.
