--- title: Report: Obama Immigration Overhaul Ahead Despite Republican Opposition description: President Obama is reportedly poised to unilaterally overhaul U.S. immigration policy and allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants canonical: https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-13T20:43:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:04.079Z article:section: Politics og:title: Report: Obama to Take Unilateral Action on Immigration og:description: Move could allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in U.S. og:url: https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda0afd24e03ca7a5/698768bccd68481c9c097fce/obama-immigration1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sara Ramirez, of Gaithersberg, Md. rallies for comprehensive immigration reform outside the White House in Washington D.C. on Nov. 7, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Report: Obama to Take Unilateral Action on Immigration twitter:description: Move could allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in U.S. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda0afd24e03ca7a5/698768bccd68481c9c097fce/obama-immigration1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Report: Obama Set to Go It Alone on Immigration ## Video: See What You Missed This Week [Watch (HLS stream): See What You Missed This Week](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VmCGKpJz.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2014-11-14. Here are four of the biggest stories for the second week of November._  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Nov 13, 2014 8:43 PM UTC  Sara Ramirez, of Gaithersburg, Md., rallies for comprehensive immigration reform outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7, 2014 Sara Ramirez, of Gaithersburg, Md., rallies for comprehensive immigration reform outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 7, 2014Jacquelyn Martin—AP  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Nov 13, 2014 8:43 PM UTC President Barack Obama is [poised to unilaterally overhaul](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/us/obama-immigration.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&%5Fr=0) American immigration policy, according to several reports Thursday, in a long-anticipated move that would ignore his Republican critics and could allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants to stay in the country. The New York _Times,_ citing unnamed Administration officials, reports that Obama intends as early as next week to announce plans to substantially refocus immigration enforcement involving some 12,000 agents and reduce the risk of deportation for millions of immigrants. ### Photographer Captures Birds-Eye View of Border Crisis  A U.S. Office of Air and Marine helicopter patrols over the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  Undocumented immigrant families walk before being taken into custody by Border Patrol agents near McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  U.S. Border Patrol agents chase undocumented immigrants through the countryside near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  U.S. Border Patrol agents take undocumented immigrants into custody near Falfurrias, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  U.S. Border Patrol agents take undocumented immigrants into custody near Falfurrias, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  U.S. Border Patrol agents take undocumented immigrant families into custody at the border fence in McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  Border Patrol agents take undocumented immigrant families into custody in McAllen, Texas on July 21, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  U.S. Border Patrol agents detain undocumented immigrants some 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  An undocumented immigrant awaits medical attention by U.S. Border Patrol agents some 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  U.S. Border Patrol agents detain undocumented immigrants in dense brushland some 60 miles north of the U.S. Mexico border in Brooks County, Texas on July 23, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  An undocumented immigrant awaits transportation to a processing center after being detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents some 60 miles north of the U.S. Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  An undocumented immigrant sits after being detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents some 60 miles north of the U.S. Mexico border near Falfurrias, Texas on July 23, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  Undocumented immigrants await transport to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center after being detained near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  A U.S. Border Patrol agent endures the heat after taking undocumented immigrants into custody near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  Undocumented immigrants flee into dense brush from U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents some 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border in Brooks County, Texas on July 23, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  U.S. Border Patrol agents guard undocumented immigrants before sending them to a processing center near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images  Undocumented immigrants are transported to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center after being detained near Falfurrias, Texas on July 22, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images As many as 3.3 million parents of children who are American citizens or legal residents would be able to obtain legal work documents under the plan, the _Times_ adds. Many immigrants with high-tech skills or who came to the U.S. as children could also be affected by the plan. Obama has infuriated Republicans by pledging executive action on immigration if Congress does not pass a comprehensive reform bill. [TIME’s Alex Altman wrote this week](http://time.com/3578515/barack-obama-immigration-reform/) on the widely expected move, as well as the likely pushback from the soon-to-be Republican-controlled Congress: --- > “” --- Read more at the [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/us/obama-immigration.html) _Read next:_ [_How Ellis Island Changed Before It Closed_](http://time.com/3563179/ellis-island/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/"},"headline":"Report: Obama Set to Go It Alone on Immigration","datePublished":"2014-11-13T20:43:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:04.079Z","description":"The White House could make the move as early as next week","url":"https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/","keywords":["Immigration","Congress","White House","President Barack Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda0afd24e03ca7a5/698768bccd68481c9c097fce/obama-immigration1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltda0afd24e03ca7a5/698768bccd68481c9c097fce/obama-immigration1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sara Ramirez, of Gaithersberg, Md. rallies for comprehensive immigration reform outside the White House in Washington D.C. on Nov. 7, 2014.","caption":"Sara Ramirez, of Gaithersberg, Md. rallies for comprehensive immigration reform outside the White House in Washington D.C. on Nov. 7, 2014.","creditText":"Jacquelyn Martin—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/","name":"Report: Obama Set to Go It Alone on Immigration"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See What You Missed This Week","description":"Here are four of the biggest stories for the second week of November.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VmCGKpJz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-14T16:05:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VmCGKpJz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3584306/obama-immigration-republicans/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```