President Obama Announces He Will Use Executive Power To Address Immigration

In light of a Congress that refuses to address illegal immigration issues, President Obama announced today that he will use whatever legal executive powers he has to begin to repair the country's immigration laws.

From the New York Times:

White House officials said that Speaker John A. Bohener informed the president last week that he would not bring an immigration overhaul to the floor this year. As a result, officials said Mr. Obama would vow to use his powers to address longstanding concerns about the impact of deportations on the families of illegal immigrants.

“The president will address the Republican leadership’s unwillingness to bring immigration reform up for an up-or-down vote, and the president will announce a new effort to fix as much of our broken immigration system as he can through executive action,” a White House official said.

Among the first of several expected actions by the President, he will order more enforcement resources to the southern border of the US to cope with a recent surge in border crossings by children. He has also asked his staff to prepare a list of executive actions which the President can use to address as much of the illegal immigration issue as is possible through his office.

The President signaled he expects that list by end of summer.