Obama to delay immigration action
President Barack Obama has decided to delay any executive action on immigration until after the November congressional elections, abandoning his pledge to act on the issue by the end of summer.
The move is certain to infuriate immigration advocates while offering relief to some vulnerable Democrats in tough Senate re-election contests.
Two White House officials said on Saturday that Obama had concluded that circumventing Congress through executive actions on immigration during the campaign would politicise the issue and hurt future efforts to pass a broad overhaul.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president's decision before it was announced, said Obama made his decision on Friday as he returned to Washington from a NATO summit in Wales.
They said Obama called a few allies from Air Force One and informed them of his decision, and that the president made more calls from the White House on Saturday.
The officials said Obama had no specific timeline to act, but that he still would take his executive steps before the end of the year.
In a Rose Garden speech on June 30, Obama said he had directed Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Eric Holder to give him recommendations for executive action by the end of summer.
Obama also pledged to "adopt those recommendations without further delay".
