President Obama as soon as next week will announce executive action on immigration reform that would defer deportations for up to 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally.
Obama administration officials familiar with the president’s plan told the New York Times that many of those undocumented immigrants could also receive work permits.
The president is set to unveil his immigration plan in the face of intense conservative backlash, with Republican lawmakers insistent that such executive action would derail any hope of bipartisan compromise on a range of other issues.
Under the potential Obama blueprint, parents of children who are American citizens or legal residents would be protected from deportation. However, the Times said the administration is also weighing a plan to limit such benefits to those who have lived in the U.S. at least a decade.
The White House has refused to publicly comment on the scope of the president’s executive action, saying he would not announce his actions until he returns from a weeklong trip to Asia.
Fox News also reported on a 10-point draft immigration plan, citing a source close to the White House, that calls for the deferral of deportations for roughly 4.5 million immigrants and more spending on border security.
Immigration advocates had previously called for the president to move forward on plans affecting up to 8 million undocumented immigrants. Though initial outlines of the president’s plan don’t meet that threshold, such unilateral action would represent Obama’s most aggressive testing of his executive powers to date.
Some Republicans say Obama’s immigration efforts could thwart plans to pass a budget during the lame-duck session of Congress.
