Attorneys representing the administration admitted to a federal judge that despite the injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security from acting on the president's immigration executive orders, thousands of work permits had been issued.

Washington Times:

The stunning admission, filed just before midnight in Texas, where the case is being heard, is the latest misstep for the administration’s lawyers, who are facing possible sanctions by Judge Hanen for their continued problems in arguing the case.

The Justice Department lawyers said Homeland Security, which is the defendant in the case, told them Wednesday that an immigration agency had approved about 2,000 applications for three-year work permits, which was part of Mr. Obama’s new amnesty, even after Judge Hanen issued his Feb. 16 injunction halting the entire program.

Top Obama officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, had repeatedly assured Congress they had fully halted the program and were complying with the order.

“The government sincerely regrets these circumstances and is taking immediate steps to remedy these erroneous three-year terms,” the administration lawyers said.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said  was “remarkable” that the administration kept approving some applications.

“The last time I checked, injunctions are not mere suggestions. They are not optional,” the Iowa Republican said. “This disregard for the court’s action is unacceptable and disturbing, especially after Secretary Johnson’s assurances that his agency would honor the injunction.”

He has written a letter to Mr. Johnson asking the department to turn over all of its communications  about implementing the three-year policy.

The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday, but Homeland Security officials said Mr. Johnson has asked his department’s inspector general to investigate what went wrong.

Homeland Security officials also said they’re going back to try to revoke the three-year permits and reissue them as two-year permits instead.

If we are to believe Secretary Johnson and the administration lawyers - and we shouldn't - this is another instance where low level bureaucrats acted illegally. Sound familiar? The same excuse was given for the IRS scandal, the EPA scandal, and Hillary's disappearing emails among others. 

The DHS inspector general has been shown to be in the administration's pocket so we're not likely to discover exactly what happened. But it will be interesting to see what Judge Hanen does to sanction the attorneys for the administration who he thinks misled him about the actions taken by DHS.