Today, President Obama is set to unveil what executive actions he will enact in order to address immigration. The announcement came yesterday by way of a video posted on Facebook where the president invited viewers to tune into his Thursday evening address where he will outline what steps he will take to begin fixing our “broken immigration system.”
The president acknowledged that, “Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long.” Obama continued, “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.”
While the exact details of his plan have not been made public, sources have noted that his actions will shield up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportations. Furthermore, measures that will grant immigrants with legal work permits and strengthening the southern border are also expected. Democratic Leadership has encouraged the president to “go big” on immigration despite GOP threats of a government shutdown or impeachment.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said, “Legislative action is always preferable, but we have waited for Congress to act, and the Congress has not acted. The president has waited.” Johnson is among the top officials that have been working to ensure that any action Obama takes are within his prosecutorial discretion and constitutionally protected.
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