President Barack Obama: Immigration Laws

Obama Dept: WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama eased enforcement of immigration laws Friday, offering a chance for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. and work. Immediately embraced by Hispanics, the extraordinary step touched off an election-year confrontation with Republicans, according to Winnipeg Free Press. The move comes in an election year in which the Hispanic vote could be critical in toss-up states such as Colorado, Nevada and Florida that could go Republican or Democratic. While Obama enjoys support from a majority of Hispanic voters, Latino enthusiasm for the president has been tempered by the slow economic recovery, his inability to win congressional support for a broad overhaul of immigration laws and by his administration's aggressive deportation policy and pat Shannahan / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Rosa Maria Soto hugs Eva Monteloneo right after Obama s announcement. CP The policy change will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the DREAM Act, congressional legislation that would establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but attend college or join the military. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.