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November 22, 2014

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Obama goes it alone on immigration

UNITED States President Barack Obama invited a showdown with newly empowered Republicans in Congress, ordering far-reaching changes to the country’s immigration system that will protect nearly 5 million people from deportation while testing the limits of his presidential powers.

In a televised address on Thursday night, Obama described the most sweeping changes to fractured immigration laws in nearly three decades, saying that taking executive actions were a “commonsense” plan consistent with what previous presidents of both parties had done. Immigrants living illegally in the US will be saved from deportation by receiving work permits; millions more will remain in limbo.

Obama sought to break a stalemate in America’s long-simmering debate over immigration by cutting out Congress, confronting Republicans who swept congressional elections earlier this month. Furious Republicans, who take full control of Congress in January after capturing the Senate, said Obama will face serious consequences for what they described as an unconstitutional power grab.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Obama’s decision to go it alone “cemented his legacy of lawlessness and squandered what little credibility he had left.”

“To those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill,” Obama said.

Republicans remain in a bind over immigration: the US electorate is rapidly becoming more diverse, especially more Hispanic. The party’s leaders have said it risks its long-term future if it does not act to solve America’s immigration problems, but many in its conservative base oppose any reform that includes a path to citizenship for those who enter the country illegally.

While Obama’s measures are sweeping in scope, they still leave more than half of the 11 million people living in the US illegally in limbo. The president announced new deportation priorities that would compel law enforcement to focus on tracking down serious criminals and those who have recently crossed the border, while specifically placing a low priority on those who have been in the US for more than 10 years.

Obama said his actions do not amount to amnesty.

“Amnesty is the immigration system we have today — millions of people who live here without paying their taxes ... while politicians use the issue to scare people and whip up votes,” he said.

The main beneficiaries of the president’s actions are immigrants who have been in the US illegally for more than five years but whose children are citizens or lawful permanent residents.

After passing background checks and paying fees, such people will be granted relief from deportation for three years and get work permits. The administration expects about 4.1 million people to qualify.

Obama is also broadening his 2012 directive that deferred deportation for some young immigrants who entered the country illegally.

He will expand eligibility to people who arrived in the US as minors before 2010, instead of the current cutoff of 2007, and will lift the requirement that applicants be under 31. The expansion is expected to affect about 300,000 people.




 

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