Government hiring 1,000 officials to process Obama's immigration order

The Obama administration is planning to create a new facility in Northern Virginia that will be staffed with about 1,000 new federal workers, all of whom will be tasked with implementing President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced its plans for the new facility in a Monday notice.

The implementation of President Barack Obama's immigration action will require 1,000 new officials, and the government is hiring.

"USCIS is taking steps to open a new operational center in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, to accommodate about 1,000 full-time, permanent federal and contract employees in a variety of positions and grade levels," the agency said.

"The initial workload will include cases filed as a result of the executive actions on immigration announced on Nov. 20, 2014," it said. "Many job opportunities at the operational center will be announced in the coming days and please continue to monitor USAJOBS if you are interested."

The notice announced the creation of several senior-level positions at the new facility.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) blasted these plans as evidence of Obama's "defiance of the American people, their laws, and their Constitution."

"He is hiring federal employees to carry out a directive that violates the laws Congress has passed in order to foist on the nation laws Congress has repeatedly refused to pass," Sessions said, adding that Congress has not authorized the creation of any new facility.

"Year after year, our annual spending bills include numerous restrictions on how federal money can and cannot be spent," he said. "Congress funds programs that are worthy and does not fund programs it deems unworthy. The President cannot spend money unless the Congress approves it, and certainly the Congress should not approve funds for an illegal amnesty."

Sessions and other Republicans are pushing for passage of a government spending bill that prevents the administration from spending any money to implement Obama's plan, which would allow millions of illegal immigrations to live and work in the United States. So far, however, it's not clear House Republicans will pass such a bill.

That's prompted Sessions, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and others to charge that House GOP leaders are ignoring their own promise to fight Obama on immigration.

Read the USCIS announcement here: