WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is considering a plan that would shield possibly around 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation as part of a broad set of executive actions that President Barack Obama could announce as early as next week, people familiar with the discussions say.
Obama has pledged to move on the measures by year’s end, and White House officials are debating whether to act soon after he returns this weekend from his current trip to Asia and Australia or wait until after Congress approves a major spending bill in December.
A senior Obama administration official said Obama’s immigration announcement could come next week, but the official said the president hadn’t made a decision yet either about timing or content of the decision.
Several officials said Obama still hasn’t received formal recommendations from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, but they said Obama is well acquainted with the realm of possibilities. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the status of the decision publicly.
The 5 million estimate includes extending deportation protections to parents and spouses of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for some years. The president is also likely to expand his 2-year-old program that protects young immigrants from deportation.
The step would fall shy of what many immigrant advocates have been demanding, but is sure to enrage Republicans who are already trying to devise ways to thwart his actions.
“We’re going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path,” House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday.
Travelling in Asia, Obama said Friday Congress could simply undo his executive actions by passing comprehensive immigration legislation.
“I would advise that if in fact they want to take a different approach, rather than devote a lot of time trying to constrain my lawful actions as the chief executive of the U.S. government in charge of enforcing our immigrations laws, that they spend some time passing a bill,” he said during a news conference in Yangon, Myanmar.
Although Obama is not able to grant citizenship or permanent resident green cards on his own without Congress, he can offer temporary protection from deportation along with work authorization, as he has done in the past.
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Associated Press writers Josh Lederman in Yangon, Myanmar, and Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.
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