Immigration Reform News 2014: President Obama To Announce Immigration Reforms In National Address Thursday Night
On Thursday evening, President Barack Obama will talk to the nation in a televised address about immigration reform at 8 p.m. ET and lay out the executive action he's taking to fix the country's broken immigration system.
His announcement will break into the Latin Grammy Awards Ceremony.
In a video released on Facebook, Obama said everyone agrees that the immigration system is broken, but that Washington has let the problem "fester for too long."
He says he'll spell out things he can do as president "to make the system better" -- and that he'll also work with Congress toward a "bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem."
Last week, the president's 10-point executive action plan for overhauling the immigration system in the U.S. was obtained exclusively by Fox News. The plan would suspend deportations for millions of immigrants, allow parents of children born in the U.S. to stay in the country and boost border control.
The plan was contained in a draft proposal from a U.S. government agency, according to Fox.
The plan calls for expanding deferred action for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, as well as for the parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. The latter could allow upwards of 4.5 million undocumented immigrant adults with U.S.-born children to stay, according to estimates, and possibly receive work authorization, Social Security numbers and government-issued IDs.
Another item would expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program known as DACA, to include any who entered the country before they were 16, offering amnesty to another 300,000 immigrants.
Another proposal would give a pay raise to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
The plan also proposes abandoning the Secure Communities program that led to the deportation of immigrants with criminal records and start a new program.
Another item would offer an estimated 500,000 immigrants who took tech jobs a path to citizenship though a State Department immigrant visa program. This would include their spouses, as well.
What will remain from the action plan will be revealed in the president's address on Thursday night.
READ MORE: 10 point immigration plan leaked
Republicans are opposed to the president's actions, with some conservative members threatening to pursue a government shutdown.
At the Republican Governors Association annual meeting on Wednesday, governors lashed out at Obama's announcement for executive action on immigration reform and dominated the first full day of the meeting.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry threatened to file a lawsuit to block Obama's executive order. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the group's outgoing chairman, blamed Obama for failing to address immigration reform earlier in his presidency, but urged Congress to avoid a government shutdown to block an executive order on immigration, according to the Associated Press.
"It's incumbent upon everybody in Washington, D.C., to do their jobs. And running the government is their job," Christie told reporters. "All this kind of hysteria about shutdowns to me is just people who can make news."
On Friday, President Obama will return to Del Sol High School in Las Vegas on Friday to discuss why he is using his authority now, and why Congress must act to pass a long-term solution to immigration reform.
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