President Obama will outline his executive action to protect up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation during a televised speech Thursday night and travel to Las Vegas Friday to promote the initiative.
“Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long,” Obama said in an online video posted Wednesday of his 8 p.m. address to the nation. “So what I’m going to be laying out is the things I can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better even as I continue to work with Congress and encourage them to get a bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem.
The White House has signaled to allies that Obama will defer deportations for the parents of children who are American citizens or legal residents, linking the measure to the amount of time such individuals have spent in the U.S. Such provisions would not be applied to the parents of Dream-Act eligible immigrants.
The White House is holding a briefing for Senate Democrats on Thursday, at which point immigration is likely to be discussed.
Obama will issue his executive action in the face of staunch opposition from Republicans. They argue the president lacks the constitutional authority to issue such a sweeping executive order and that such an action would derail the prospect of bipartisan compromise on Capitol Hill.
“If ‘Emperor Obama’ ignores the American people and announces an amnesty plan that he himself has said over and over again exceeds his constitutional authority, he will cement his legacy of lawlessness and ruin the chances for congressional action on this issue — and many others,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
The president is also expected to issue work permits to the undocumented immigrants given reprieves and expand the scope of deportation relief already granted to roughly 600,000 Dream Act-eligible immigrants.
Obama delayed unilateral action until after the 2014 midterms in hopes of protecting embattled Senate Democrats, but the president has been unswayed by GOP arguments to hold off on immigration until Republicans try to move a bill through the House.
“This is a step forward in the president’s plan to work with Congress on passing common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said of Obama’s plan. “He laid out his principles for that reform two years ago in Del Sol High School in Las Vegas — and that’s where he’ll return on Friday to discuss why he is using his executive authority now, and why Republicans in Congress must act to pass a long-term solution to immigration reform.”
This article was first posted at 10:27 a.m. and has since been updated.
