WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he plans to help immigrants living illegally in the United States “get legal” without any action from Congress. And he promises to curb a system that he describes as deporting immigrants improperly. But the White House is vague about the changes the president is expected to announce soon.
What can Obama actually do without the cooperation of Capitol Hill?
Under current law, the president can direct immigration authorities to temporarily shield particular immigrants from deportation and give them permission to work in the country legally.
But the president cannot give immigrants living in the country illegally green cards, visas or just about any other path to a permanent legal immigration status. Only Congress has that authority, and so far lawmakers have shown little interest in remodeling the country’s complex legal immigration system.
Still, Obama’s hands are not tied. Two years ago, he launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that lets young immigrants who came to the U.S. as children stay in the country without fear of deportation for two years. So far, more than 610,000 have benefited from that program.
The president also can allow some people living in the country illegally to “parole in place,” during which time they can apply to live in the country legally. Once they receive permission to stay, they can later apply to change their immigration status and possibly win a green card. An immigrant who holds a green card is a legal permanent resident and can eventually apply to become a U.S. citizen.
In the past, the “parole in place” designation has been limited to helping very small numbers of immigrants stay in the United States, including spouses, parents and children of U.S. military personnel.
A U.S. official who has been briefed on parts of the president’s executive action plan said the administration estimates that as many as 7 million immigrants living in the country illegally could benefit. That group includes parents of U.S. citizens and those young immigrants already protected from deportation.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
The White House has declined to say what Obama meant by “be legal” or “get legal.”
The president this month, on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said that he intended to “do what I can do through executive action,” but he added, “It’s not going to be everything that needs to get done.”
The president said the current immigration system doesn’t work and “we’re deporting people that shouldn’t be deported. We’re not deporting folks that are dangerous and need to be deported.”
Yet those comments undermine statements of his own immigration enforcement agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which routinely highlights its efforts to find and deport criminal immigrants.
Internal ICE documents obtained by The Associated Press describe an agency effort that “prioritizes identifying and removing criminal” immigrants. The report notes that about 56 percent of the 315,943 immigrants sent home during the 2014 budget year that ended in September were criminals.
