Immigration Reform 2014 - News Updates: Obama’s Immigration Act Will Allow Millions Of Immigrants To Stay In The Country Legally

• comments
• 
• 

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, is planning an expansive use of his executive power to provide five million undocumented workers with legal protection from deportation, CBS News reported.

Prior to a press conference in Yangon, Myanmar between Obama and Myanmar's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, an official from the White House spoke to reporters and said that Obama is considering all possible options and approaches to the matter. He is planning to deal with the ongoing internal debate over the deportation relief and demands to increase border security.

The president has yet to finalize his proposal or set a date for an announcement. The official said it could come as early as next week, though the president is still considering the possible effect of the announcement on the ongoing negotiations on a short-term spending bill that would avoid a government shutdown.

The official also claimed that the White House has no plans to delay their actions, despite the demands of congressional Republicans, or those who claim that the act is beyond Obama's authority, according to BBC News.

"I believe that America is a nation of immigrants. The system is broken," Obama said during the Myanmar news conference. He said that he had given the House of Representatives more than a year to deal with the matter, but no solution has been presented.

"I will not stand by with a broken system in perpetuity. Rather than trying to constrain my lawful actions as chief executive, they should spend time passing a bill," Obama said.

Republicans in Congress, such as incoming Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, said Obama should work with them, while House Speaker John Boehner told reporters that they would fight the president "tooth and nail" if he continues his plan of action.

Obama's immigration act is geared towards providing legal work documents to the parents of American citizens, allowing them to stay with their children in the U.S., instead of being sent away, according to The New York Times.

The White House, however, is still considering providing additional benefits only to those who have lived in the country for at least ten years, children who have come to the country illegally, or farm workers who have worked for the country for the past few years and those who have high-tech or in-demand skills.

An analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, an immigration research organization based in Washington, said that should Obama's plan push through, it could affect as many as 3.3 million immigrants who have been living in the country illegally for the past five years, 2.2 million who have lived in the country for the past ten, and several hundred thousands of children and farmers.