Undeterred by Republican threats of retaliation, President Barack Obama plans to go ahead with his unilateral executive action on immigration reform on Thursday, giving protection from deportation to millions of illegal immigrants.
Citing sources close to the administration, media reports said Obama would make the announcement on Thursday night (Friday morning India time) and follow it up with a rally at las Vegas the next day. There was no immediate confirmation from the White House. It is widely expected that Obama’s order will provide relief to about 5 million illegal immigrants, who will be shielded from the threat of deportation and allowed to stay and work in the US. Obama is also expected to address the issue of expansion of visas for high-skilled workers – an area of great interest to Indian software professionals, who roughly account for half of the number of tech workers granted H-1B visas annually. AFl-CIO, the predominant labour federation, “inadvertently disclosed” the administration’s tentative plans in an email on Wednesday, said reports that quoted organisation spokesman Jeff Hauser as saying: “We hear there will be a prime time Thursday evening announcement (to preview) and full unveiling in Vegas on Friday.”