Time
By Noah Raymon
November 13, 2014
President
Barack Obama is poised to unilaterally overhaul American immigration
policy, according to several reports Thursday, in a long-anticipated
move that would ignore his Republican critics
and could allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the
country.
The
New York Times, citing unnamed Administration officials, reports that
Obama intends as early as next week to announce plans to substantially
refocus immigration enforcement involving some
12,000 agents and reduce the risk of deportation for millions of
immigrants.
As
many as 3.3 million parents of children who are American citizens or
legal residents would be able to obtain legal work documents under the
plan, the Times adds. Many immigrants with high-tech
skills or who came to the U.S. as children could also be affected by
the plan.
Obama
has infuriated Republicans by pledging executive action on immigration
if Congress does not pass a comprehensive reform bill. TIME’s Alex
Altman wrote this week on the widely expected
move, as well as the likely pushback from the soon-to-be
Republican-controlled Congress:
The
pressure on Obama to delay executive action is likely to build.
Republican leaders say that skirting Congress to go it alone would
ignite a controversy that jeopardizes the chances for
cooperation between the President and the new GOP Congressional
majority on a host of issues. “It’s like waving a red flag in front of a
bull,” Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said. Immigration will
be a touchstone in confirmation hearings for Loretta
Lynch, Obama’s pick for Attorney General. Tea Party conservatives in
the Senate signaled they plan to use the hearings to press Lynch on her
views of the President’s executive authority on immigration.
Enacting
sweeping changes to immigration law just weeks after the party was
rebuked by voters at the polls could spark a blowback from voters. In
one recent survey, conducted by Republican
pollster Kellyanne Conway, 74% of respondents said they preferred Obama
to work with Congress to retool a broken immigration system rather than
maneuvering around the legislative branch.
Even
some seasoned Democrats seem a bit skittish about the idea. Over a
sea-bass lunch Friday with congressional leaders in the Old Family
Dining Room of the White House, Obama told Boehner
that his patience in waiting for the House to act on immigration had
run out. At that point, according to a source familiar with the meeting,
Vice President Joe Biden piped up to ask how long Republicans would
need to craft immigration legislation — prompting
the President to shoot Biden a look that closed the discussion.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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