Major TV Networks Opt Out of Broadcasting President Obama's Executive Action Address on Immigration Reform

President Barack Obama's executive action plans may affect the lives of five million undocumented immigrants, who very well could be allowed to stay in the U.S. and obtain work permits -- only several major U.S. networks have opted not to broadcast his Thursday address.

NBC, Fox, ABC and CBS have chosen not to broadcast President Obama's immigration speech because they don't want to lose top ratings that could be won by popular network series, such as "Grey's Anatomy." That said, Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Univision will air the prime-time coverage. Univision will even delay airing the Latin Grammy awards to allow viewers a chance to tune in to the President's important announcement about immigration and the undocumented immigrant community.

In 2012, approximately 3.5 percent of the nation's population of nearly 316 million residents were undocumented, as well as 26 percent of the nation's 42.5 million foreign-born residents. At the same time, there were 11.7 million legal permanent residents, 17.8 million naturalized citizens and 1.9 million legal residents with temporary status, including students, diplomats and "high-tech guest workers."

Also, 8.1 million (5.1 percent) of the undocumented immigrants were apart of 2012's labor force.

Many states have witnessed their undocumented community shrink over the span of three years. Nebraska, Idaho, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia experienced an increase in the number of undocumented immigrants living in those states from 2009 and 2012, according Pew Research. However, 14 states saw a decline during the same time period. Those states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon. Rounding these off are Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts and New York.

The number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. slumped during the great depression. In 2007, the number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. was at 12.2 million. In 2012, it stood at 11.2 million, remaining unchanged since 2009.

With the exception of Massachusetts, each of the states that experienced a drop in undocumented immigrants saw the drop due to a decrease in the number of unauthorized immigrants emigrating from Mexico. Massachusetts's dip was due to a decline in undocumented immigrants arriving from other nations. These fluctuations in numbers show that immigration is more than a Latino issue.

More than half of undocumented immigrants (60 percent) lived in the six states with the greatest number of unrecorded immigrants in 2012 (California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas). However, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia are at the opposite end of that spectrum, with fewer than 5,000 unauthorized immigrants each in 2012.

President Obama has reiterated his intention to take executive action and offer relief from deportation and provide work permits to part of the declining undocumented immigrant population.

However, Republican leaders across the board have cautioned against taking premature executive action, saying that it would "torpedo" opportunities for bipartisan immigration reform bill. Republicans have also accused the president of exceeding the authority of his office and embracing "the tactics of a monarch."

Nonetheless, relief from deportation is a long-held dream for countless U.S.-dwelling undocumented individuals and their U.S.-born children. Four million undocumented immigrant parents (38 percent) of adults within the undocumented population lived with their U.S.-born children in 2012. Of all those individuals, 3 million have lived in the U.S. for 10 years or more.

The number of undocumented populations from South America, Europe and Canada have held steady, while the number of undocumented Mexicans dropped.

The president's proposal would offer protection from deportation to millions from all walks of life. And a vital parts of the plan looks to overhaul the nation's immigrant enforcement system, which includes expanding the existing "Dreamer" program, which legitimizes young immigrants who arrived to the U.S. as children.

Those who are given legal protection will also be granted government subsidies for healthcare under Obamacare. However, farmworkers will not receive specific protection from deportation, and neither will the parents of Dreamers.

On Friday, the president is expected to travel to Las Vegas, which has a growing and powerful Hispanic constituency, where he will rally for support for his immigration plan without the approval of Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will join President Obama as he announces his plans to the nation in a prime-time TV address Thursday. On Friday, he'll be at Del Sol High School for an event to sign the executive actions. Sixty-three percent of students at Del Sol are Hispanic and nearly 18 percent of Nevada's students have parents who are undocumented immigrants, according to Pew research.