FULL SPEECH: President Obama Obama Uses Executive Order to Allow Up To 5 Millions Illegal Immigrants to Remain in America. Delivers an Address to the Nation November 20, 2014, Obama has just declared 'amnesty' for 5 Million undocumented Immigrants to stay in the US. "Our history & the facts show that immigrants are a net plus for our economy & society" Obama: ‘If You’ve Been in America for More than 5 Years ... You Can Come out of the Shadows’ Deporting Millions of Illegals ‘Is Not Who We Are as Americans’ ‘I Have the Legal Authority To Take as President’ To Enact Reforms Obama offer to 5 millions illegal migrants (BBC) Nearly five million people living illegally in the US can escape deportation under sweeping changes to the US immigration system. US President Barack Obama unveiled his plan, which he is enacting without Congress, in a televised address. Republicans have argued the action is beyond his authority and relations with the president will be poisoned. There are about 11m illegal immigrants in the US and this year children coming across the border prompted a crisis. The president told the nation that what he is proposing is not amnesty. "What I'm describing is accountability - a commonsense, middle ground approach," he said. "If you meet the criteria, you can come out of the shadows and get right with the law. "If you're a criminal, you'll be deported. If you plan to enter the US illegally, your chances of getting caught and sent back just went up." Although the plan will allow millions to work, it won't offer a path to citizenship of entitle them to the same benefits as Americans. He pledged to crack down on illegal immigration at the border and require certain undocumented migrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to register to stay temporarily in the US. Mr Obama said deportations would now focus on "felons not families, criminals not children, gang members, not a mother trying to provide for her kids". More details include: - Expanding eligibility requirements for those already subject to deportation deferment because they were brought to the US as children - Ensuring undocumented parents of US citizens or legal permanent residents can temporarily escape deportation shifting additional resources to the US-Mexico border to increase the likelihood of apprehending illegal crossers streamlining the immigration court process to address the backlog of pending cases - Directing government enforcement activities to national security threats, serious criminals and recent border crossers as highest priorities for removal from the US Overall, the action could lift the threat of deportation for up to five million undocumented migrants. The plan reflects "the guidance [Mr Obama] has received from the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General about everything he could do under the existing law", a senior administration official said on Thursday. "It's entirely consistent with the way previous presidents have exercised their executive authority." Mr Obama has pledged for months to take steps on immigration after the Republican-led House of Representatives blocked a bipartisan immigration bill passed by the US Senate in 2013. But Republican House Speaker John Boehner has said Mr Obama is "playing with fire" if he moves ahead with his immigration plan. On Thursday, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell - soon to head the Congressional chamber after conservatives gained control in the 4 November mid-term elections - vowed to retaliate. "If President Obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act," he said in a speech on the Senate floor, declining to offer further details. Mr Obama's plan does not go as far as a Senate bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants but it was never passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The president has said he would still like to work with Congress on a comprehensive bill. On Thursday, Mr Obama said those who questioned his 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". President to announce sweeping immigration action President Obama Announces immigration reform President's Obama Full Speech on Immigration Executive Order President Obama Speaks on Immigration President Obama's Immigration Announcement President Obama announces unilateral action to overhaul immigration The president announces his new measures during a primetime address President Obama lays out the new steps he's taking to fix our broken immigration system.

• published: 21 Nov 2014
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