Report: Obama’s Proposed Order on Immigration Keeps Millions in US
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The New York Times reported Thursday that President Obama is nearing a decision on an executive order that would prevent the deportation of as many as five million undocumented immigrants, quoting administration officials familiar with the plan.
Such a move would likely enrage congressional Republicans. Even before the Times article came out, House Speaker John Boehner said if the president acts unilaterally to revamp the immigration system, it would “jeopardize other issues as well.”
Nonetheless, the president appears determined to act with immigration reform stalled for a year-and-a-half after the Senate passed a comprehensive bill in June 2013 that has languished in the GOP-controlled House.
According to the Times, Obama’s directive would allow many undocumented immigrants to obtain work permits, provided their children are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.
Furthermore, the executive order would also refocus the activities of the government’s 12,000 immigration agents, the Times reports.
Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies would step up deportations of known criminals, people considered national security threats and others who try to cross over the southern border into the U.S.
The president’s executive order is still subject to change, sources told the Times, but Obama is determined to issue the directive before the end of 2014.
Although Hispanic groups and liberal Democrats will no doubt praise the plan that will make millions unafraid of coming out in the open, Obama runs the risk of sabotaging already delicate year-end budget negotiations and perhaps even kill the nomination of Loretta E. Lynch to become the next U.S. attorney general.
Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah and Jeff Sessions of Alabama are already in the throes of threatening to kill budget talks unless the president backs off from what they claim is “executive amnesty” for people they view as lawbreakers.
Meanwhile, ABC News reports that the president will arrive at a decision on what the plan will entail next week but it remains unclear when he will sign an executive order to implement immigration reform.
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