Obama enforces US immigration overhaul

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Agencies): Millions of immigrants living illegally in the US will be allowed to apply for work permits under a major shake-up unveiled by President Barack Obama.
Pledging to fix America's "broken" immigration system, President Barack Obama offered five million undocumented migrants protection from deportation Thursday, allowing families to emerge from the shadows and seek work permits.
They include immigrants who have been in the US for five years and have children staying legally in the US.
About four million people are expected to benefit from a reform package forced through using executive orders, which allow Mr Obama to bypass Congress.
In a move that infuriated his Republican critics and drew unspecified pledges to counter it, Obama said nearly all undocumented people living in the country for more than five years and who have a child who is a US citizen or legal permanent resident can apply for a three-year work authorization.
The president also broadened the program he launched in 2012 that provides temporary residency to young undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States before the age of 16.
There are estimated to be 11 million illegal immigrants in the US.
Under Mr Obama's plan, undocumented parents of children who are US citizens or legal residents will be able to apply for work permits lasting three years.
Only parents who have lived in the US for five years will qualify.
Another part of the package will extend a programme that gives temporary legal status to people who arrived in the US as children.
Currently only those under the age of 30 who arrived before 2007 can apply for the programme, which was launched in 2012 and already covers roughly 1.2 million people.
Mr Obama has abolished the age limit and extended the cut-off point to 2010, potentially extending the programme to a further 300,000 people.
Mr Obama said in a televised address that his measures would allow illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows and get right with the law". He insisted that his proposals, which are the biggest immigration reforms since the mid-1980s, did not amount to an amnesty.