Introduction

President Obama's Immigration Accountability Executive Action of November 20, 2014, would revise some U.S. immigration policies and initiates several programs, including a revised border security policy for the Southwest border; deferred action programs for some unauthorized aliens; revised interior enforcement priorities; changes to aid the entry of skilled workers; promoting immigrant integration and naturalization; and several other initiatives the President indicated would improve the U.S. immigration system. The most controversial among these would grant deferred action to as many as 5 million unauthorized aliens. The President announced the executive action through 10 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memoranda, 2 White House memoranda, and 3 Department of Labor (DOL) fact sheets. According to the President, the action was taken in response to the absence of legislation addressing major problems within the immigration system. The President has stated that his executive action is temporary, and that his successor can rescind some or all of its provisions. Those opposed to the executive action argue that it was taken largely for political purposes. They contend that once granted, the temporary measures it encompasses would be difficult to revoke. Separately, a debate has arisen as to whether the President has the legal authority to take such action, with the Administration and others arguing the President's action falls within his authority, and many in Congress arguing the President has overstepped it. That debate and its attendant legal questions are beyond the scope of this report. As the Administration proceeds to implement the executive action, some in Congress have vowed to halt some or all of its provisions. Summary of the President's Executive Action

The President's "Immigration Accountability Executive Action," announced on November 20, 2014, includes initiatives covering the following policy areas:
border security; interior enforcement and removals; Deferred A cti on for Childhood A rrivals (DACA);Deferred Action for P arents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA);p arole;provisional unlawful presence w aivers; high-skilled foreign w orkers ; immigrant integration and n aturalization ; immigrant visa s ystem; l abor protection; andcrime v ictims. These include Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at POEs; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents; U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) personnel; additional federal law enforcement officers from agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Joint Task Force East would cover "the Southern maritime border and approaches." The new program would be called the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP). The expansion of the provisional unlawful presence waiver program to specified relatives of U.S. citizens and LPRs—spouses and minor children of LPRs and adult children of U.S. citizens and LPRs—with approved immigrant visa petitions could help facilitate these individuals' acquisition of LPR status. The expansion of eligibility for DACA and the establishment of a new deferred action process for the unauthorized parents of U.S. citizens and LPRs who meet specified requirements could enable individuals in the newly covered groups to remain in the United States and, if granted employment authorization, to work legally. The Administration contends that employers use temporary worker visas to retain workers as they wait for LPR visa numbers to become available. Concurrently, DOL announced a review of the policies and regulations related to labor certification. In the High Skilled Memorandum, the DHS Secretary directed USCIS to issue guidance or regulations clarifying the circumstances under which the national interest waiver can be used. Regulations to implement this program must include income and resource requirements. The President's executive action would establish an interagency "White House Task Force on New Americans" with two primary objectives: (1) identify, promote, and expand immigrant integration best practices within states and localities; and (2) help determine steps that federal agencies can take to improve their own immigrant integration efforts. The action also directed USCIS to consider the feasibility of a partial fee waiver to the naturalization fee. Other Executive Action Initiatives

		Modernizing the U.S. On November 21, 2014, as part of the President's executive action, DOL announced the creation of an inter-agency working group to "promote effective and consistent enforcement of federal labor, employment, and immigration laws, with the goal of protecting all workers regardless of legal status." Expanding Support for Crime Victims

U nonimmigrant status is reserved for victims of certain statutorily specified crimes that occurred within the United States.
On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced his Immigration Accountability Executive Action which would revise some U.S. immigration policies and initiate several programs, including a revised border security policy for the Southwest border; deferred action programs for some unauthorized aliens; revised interior enforcement priorities; changes to aid the entry of skilled workers; promoting immigrant integration and naturalization; and several other initiatives the President indicated would improve the U.S. immigration system. The most controversial among these provisions would grant deferred action to as many as 5 million unauthorized aliens.
The President announced the executive action through 10 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memoranda, 2 White House memoranda, and 3 Department of Labor (DOL) fact sheets. Together, they comprise the following initiatives:
Border Security: forming three new task forces as part of DHS's Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Strategy that integrates efforts not only within DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) but also among other DHS agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the U.S. Coast Guard; Interior Enforcement and Removals: revising priorities for immigration enforcement and detention; ending the Secure Communities program and replacing it with the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), collecting and disseminating improved metrics on removals, and reforming the employment structure for ICE Enforcement and Removal Office (ERO) agents; Expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): increasing the population eligible for the DACA program by expanding the eligibility criteria, and extending the duration of DACA and its related work authorization from two to three years; Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA): allowing parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to request deferred action and employment authorization if they meet residency and other criteria and pass required background checks; Parole Rules: revising conditions under which eligible family members of military personnel, persons traveling abroad, and certain entrepreneurs may receive parole; Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers: expanding the use of provisional unlawful presence waivers beyond spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens to also include the spouses and minor children of LPRs as well as the adult children of U.S. citizens, and clarifying the "extreme hardship" standard that must be met to obtain this waiver; High Skilled Workers: ensuring that all statutorily available LPR visas are fully utilized, reviewing the labor certification program and its regulations to strengthen its integrity and responsiveness to workforce changes, providing foreign workers with greater flexibility to change jobs, expanding the use of national interest waivers to retain selected highly qualified workers, expanding opportunities for students to gain on-the-job training through administrative rule changes, and clarifying the meaning of "specialized knowledge" to ensure U.S. workers are not being unfairly displaced; Immigrant Integration and Naturalization: initiating an inter-agency task force to identify and promote both immigrant integration "best practices" within states and localities as well as facilitating steps that can be taken administratively within and among federal agencies, and encouraging eligible LPRs to naturalize through additional payment options and possible partial fee waivers; Immigrant Visa System: providing recommendations to streamline, modernize, and improve immigrant and nonimmigrant visa processing; Labor Protection: creating an inter-agency working group to promote effective and consistent enforcement of federal labor, employment, and immigration laws to protect all workers regardless of legal status; and Crime Victims: expanding the DOL Wage and Hour Division's role in supporting foreign national victims of human trafficking and other select crimes.
According to the President, the action was taken in response to the absence of legislation addressing major problems within the immigration system. The President has stated that his executive action is temporary, and that his successor can rescind some or all of its provisions. Those opposed to the executive action argue that it was taken largely for political purposes. They contend that once granted, the temporary measures it encompasses would be difficult to revoke. Separately, a debate has arisen as to whether the President has the legal authority to take such action, with the Administration and others arguing the President's action falls within his authority, and many in Congress arguing the President has overstepped it. That debate and its attendant legal questions are beyond the scope of this report.
Because the President announced his executive action relatively recently, little guidance is available to clarify policies and answer questions related to the revisions and initiatives it contains. The two deferred action programs included in the action, both of which would require petitioners to submit fees, are the only initiatives in the executive action supported by independent fee-supported funding. The rest rely largely on changes in rules and regulations and on the coordination and marshaling of existing administrative resources. As the Administration proceeds to implement the executive action, some in Congress have vowed to halt some or all of its provisions. On February 23, 2015, Senator Collins introduced S. 534 that would invalidate almost all the provisions of the President's executive action.