Immigration Reform Pledge: Barack Obama defends US immigration reform pledge
U.S President Barack Obama has defended plans to use his overriding executive powers to push through changes to the nation #39;s immigration system. Subscribe to our YouTube channel ...
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Immigration Reform Pledge: Barack Obama defends US immigration reform pledge - Video
McConnell Slams Obama for Immaturity on Immigration
If President Obama wants true immigration reform, he should work with Congress to form a permanent solution instead of taking executive action, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday, Nov....
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McConnell Slams Obama for Immaturity on Immigration - Video
Immigration activists hold banners during a rally calling for immigration reform at Lafayette Square on November 3, 2014 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
With the 2014 midterm elections out of the way, President Obama is preparing to unveil his long-promised executive action on immigration reform. The action is expected to expand the pool of people who are protected from deportation.
But with just two years left in office and limits on what he can do with his pen and his phone, the staying power of the Mr. Obama's actions will depend largely on what they look like.
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Despite a rough midterm election for Democrats, President Obama says he won't wait for Congress to act on immigration, vowing to press ahead with...
There are a few different roads presidents can take to get around Congress. One popular approach is the formal executive order, although as a policy it can be fragile.
"All administrative forms of relief that are adopted as policies by executive branch officials are potentially subject to reversal by the next administration," New York University Law School Professor Adam Cox, an expert in immigration and constitutional law, told CBS News.
One way Mr. Obama could protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation is by expanding another executive order, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, (known as DACA) a 2012 program designed for certain immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. It gave them renewable two-year reprieves from deportation and provided them with work permits.
This program could be expanded to cover more people who have been living in the U.S. without permission. A recent analysis by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) found that modifying the criteria--e.g., changing the age and educational thresholds, could expand the eligible population by tens of thousands or up to 1.9 million people. Or it could include those U.S. citizens' families who do not have permission to be in the U.S.: that population was estimated to be about 3.8 million in 2012.
Expanding DACA would mean relying on the Department of Homeland Security's power of prosecutorial discretion, in essence, exercising its judgment to defer deportation. Changes like these provide some relief from the threat of deportation, but they don't bestow citizenship or permanent residence.
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Will Obama's immigration moves have any staying power?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- President Obama, who will act on immigration reform by the end of the year, has not reviewed final administration recommendations on immigration but is aware of the general details in the expected plan, says a senior White House official who is traveling with the President in Myanmar.
"It's not like this is the Academy Awards," said the official, meaning that the contents of the envelope are not a surprise.
Citing his legal authority as chief executive of the United States, Obama said in a press conference in Myanmar Friday that he would act on immigration reform by the end of the year.
"I believe that America is a nation of immigrants," the President said. Everybody agrees that the system is broken; there has been ample opportunity for Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill that would strengthen our borders, improve the legal immigration system and lift millions of people out of the shadows so that they are paying taxes and getting right by the law."
The senior White House official who spoke to CNN said that any executive action could come as soon as next week. What's clear, said the official on Friday, is that the President is not going to act to bypass lawmakers and implement changes on his own while he is overseas. The White House is also not going to yield to threats of a shutdown.
Warnings from Republicans are not affecting White House plans, according to the official, who said the White House is not going to command less in the executive action order just to appease furious lawmakers. Obama Friday encouraged Congress to act on immigration and said he told Republican congressional leaders that he was interested in working on a legislative solution, but without that he would act.
"I indicated to (House) Speaker (John) Boehner several months ago that if in fact Congress failed to act I would use all the lawful authority that I possess to try and make the system work better. And that's gonna happen, that's gonna happen before the end of the year," said Obama.
The senior White House official said that before issuing any order the president will review his administration's proposals for extending deportation relief to undocumented immigrants with American-born children and those who entered the United States as children themselves.
Another senior administration official told CNN that the main contours of the executive action are three-fold: direct immigration agents to allow parents of children who are American citizens to obtain documents that allows them to stay in the United States legally, protect illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and make clear deportation should still be the policy for convicted criminals
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Obama ready to act on immigration
President Obama, who will act on immigration reform by the end of the year, has not reviewed final administration recommendations on immigration but is aware of the general details in the expected plan, says a senior White House official who is traveling with the President in Myanmar.
"It's not like this is the Academy Awards," said the official, meaning that the contents of the envelope are not a surprise.
Citing his legal authority as chief executive of the United States, Obama said in a press conference in Myanmar Friday that he would act on immigration reform by the end of the year.
"I believe that America is a nation of immigrants," the President said. Everybody agrees that the system is broken; there has been ample opportunity for Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill that would strengthen our borders, improve the legal immigration system and lift millions of people out of the shadows so that they are paying taxes and getting right by the law."
The senior White House official who spoke to CNN said that any executive action could come as soon as next week. What's clear, said the official on Friday, is that the President is not going to act to bypass lawmakers and implement changes on his own while he is overseas. The White House is also not going to yield to threats of a shutdown.
Warnings from Republicans are not affecting White House plans, according to the official, who said the White House is not going to command less in the executive action order just to appease furious lawmakers. Obama Friday encouraged Congress to act on immigration and said he told Republican congressional leaders that he was interested in working on a legislative solution, but without that he would act.
"I indicated to (House) Speaker (John) Boehner several months ago that if in fact Congress failed to act I would use all the lawful authority that I possess to try and make the system work better. And that's gonna happen, that's gonna happen before the end of the year," said Obama.
The senior White House official said that before issuing any order the president will review his administration's proposals for extending deportation relief to undocumented immigrants with American-born children and those who entered the United States as children themselves.
Another senior administration official told CNN that the main contours of the executive action are three-fold: direct immigration agents to allow parents of children who are American citizens to obtain documents that allows them to stay in the United States legally, protect illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children and make clear deportation should still be the policy for convicted criminals
Though the general details of the plan are known, it is still in flux, and may change by the time it is announced, according to two other sources briefed on the subject who shared more in-depth details under consideration with CNN.