Obama puts deportation of youth on hold

President Barack Obama said Friday that his administration will block deportations of hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants who had been brought to the country as children, declaring that it was "the right thing to do" for those affected and for the country.

"Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people," Obama said during the announcement in the White House Rose Garden. "Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not present a risk to national security or public safety will be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings and apply for work authorization."

He said the action was being taken in the absence of any move in Congress "to fix our broken immigration system." He described the step as a "temporary" measure and urged lawmakers to pass more permanent solutions.

"This is not amnesty," Obama declared. "This is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship. It's not a permanent fix. This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely, while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. It is the right thing to do."

The policy change effectively ends a years-long standoff with Hispanic activists who are crucial to the president's re-election. The issue has been a major point of contention between immigration advocates and Obama. Advocates have spent months urging the president to take executive action to spare many young illegal immigrants from deportation, and until now Obama has insisted that he did not have the authority.

Republicans quickly found fault, saying the president should instead have offered a long-term solution. While in New Hampshire Friday, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a quick statement to reporters.

"I believe the status of young people who come here through no fault of their own is an important matter to be considered and should be solved on a long-term basis so they know what their future would be in this country," Romney said. "I think the action that the president took today makes it more difficult to reach that long-term solution because an executive order is, of course, just a short-term matter.

Obama's statement was twice interrupted by shouted questions from a reporter, which clearly irritated him.

Several minutes into the statement, a reporter later identified as Neil Munro from The Daily Caller, a website, shouted, "Why do you favor foreigners over American workers?"

"Excuse me, sir," Obama said. "It's not time for questions, sir."

The second time Munro began talking before Obama was finished, the president said, "The next time I'd prefer you let me finish my statements before you ask that question." When Munro persisted, Obama said, "I didn't ask for an argument. I'm answering your question."

With Bloomberg News