US President announces major immigration change

(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)

In one of the most dramatic moves of his presidency, the United States' Barack Obama has announced plans to make major changes to US immigration procedure.

After the US Congress failed to pass legislation on the issue, the President has resorted to controversial executive action to help millions of undocumented migrants.

As Ron Sutton reports, the Republican opposition is furious.

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Opposition Republicans are promising a forceful response after they say United States president Barack Obama abused his power.

President Obama has announced plans to invoke special powers to offer temporary work permits to as many as five million undocumented migrants, protecting them from deportation.

The Republicans, who take control of both houses of Congress in January, say he is exceeding his powers and they will launch a fierce fight through legislative action.

The President announced his plans in a televised address to the nation, although the three leading commercial networks declined to interrupt their prime-time programming to air it.

"We're going to offer the following deal: If you've been in America for more than five years, (and) if you have children who are American citizens or legal residents, if you register, pass a criminal background check and you're willing to pay your fair share of taxes, you'll be able to apply to stay in this country temporarily without fear of deportation. You can come out of the shadows and get right with the law."

Those migrant parents who qualify would be authorised to work in the United States for three years, deferring any deportation.

While they would have to pay taxes, they would gain access to social services.

And Mr Obama also announced he is expanding a program he started in 2012 that offers temporary residence for young undocumented migrants who arrived before age 16.

He says he would have preferred the US House of Representatives, already Republican-dominated, had passed a Senate bill to enact changes in the law.

"I continue to believe that the best way to solve this problem is by working together to pass that kind of common sense law. But until that happens, there are actions I have the legal authority to take as president, the same kinds of actions taken by Democratic and Republican presidents before me, that will help make our immigration system more fair and more just. Tonight, I'm announcing those actions."

Those remarks were aimed at Republicans who have questioned whether the President has the power to enact such a plan, saying he is acting like a king or an emperor.

Republican Congressman Steve King, one of the few still in Washington when Mr Obama made his announcement, has told CNN he does not believe the President has the power.

"He has no constitutional authority to do this. That resides in the Congress. This is a constitutional crisis. And I listened to all the 'humanitarian' discussion, (but) what about the rule of law? What about some compassion for the rule of law and the constitution, this republic and the vision of our founders? This is a crisis."

The Iowa Congressman says he will look at three legislative options.

"The first thing would be ... it would be a Resolution of Disapproval that lays this out. We've got to get a better look at the documents that will drive this first. The second one potentially could be a censure for the President of the United States. That's not happened in more than a century, and that would be, at least, a direct message to the President. The third thing would be to cut off the funding."

The Republicans are sharply divided on how to proceed, but many want to cut funding to the government agencies that would implement the presidential order.

The most conservative end of the party has suggested the threat of shutting down the government would give them leverage to force Mr Obama to back down.

But others in the party warn even raising the prospect of shutting down the government again would backfire badly on Republicans.

Mr Obama says he still welcomes immigration legislation from Congress and would willingly drop his executive action if it happens.

"For those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question the wisdom of me acting where Congress has failed, I have one answer: Pass a bill. I want to work with both parties to pass a more permanent legislative solution. And the day I sign that bill into law, the actions I take will no longer be necessary."

The three-year window for deferring deportation is aimed at protecting applicants through the first year of Mr Obama's successor in 2017.

Overall, the executive action would mark the most significant change in the US immigration system since the 1980s.