The Obama administration has signed a $7.8 million lease to house some of the 1,000 employees being hired because of the president’s executive actions on immigration.

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Five thousand people have already applied for the jobs, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez said in recent speech in Los Angeles according to The New York Times, which reported on the hiring spree on Thursday.

The new workers will help sign up people for the legal status granted by Obama through the executive actions. The move has infuriated congressional Republicans, who have vowed to do what they can to curb the president when they take over the Senate next year.

Rodriguez’s agency announced the new hiring days after Obama took action. The Times reported that the costs will add up to $8 million in lease payments annually, along with $40 million for annual salaries.