Obama's immigration overhaul

Opening a debate he admits is both "controversial" and "emotional", Barack Obama signalled his intention to overhaul America's immigration system yesterday, finally creating a means for the nation's millions of illegal residents to become fully-fledged citizens.

The President plans to take on the issue next month, confounding predictions that it would be kicked into the long grass as a result of the current gloomy economic climate.

Under proposals floated by the White House, undocumented workers who admit that they violated the law will be given a "path to citizenship", provided they agree to pay fines or undergo other sanctions.

Mr Obama will portray the change as a necessary "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system", Cecilia Munoz, the President's deputy assistant and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House, told The New York Times.

Between 12 and 15 million mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants are thought to live in the US, settling there decades ago. Opponents, mostly on the Republican side, are concerned that immigrants who are granted full citizenship would take jobs that would otherwise go to US citizens.

The President will attempt to deflect critics by strengthening border law enforcement and penalising employers who hire undocumented workers.

"It doesn't seem rational that any political leader would say 'let's give millions of foreign workers permanent access to US jobs'," said Roy Beck, an executive director of NumbersUSA, a group wanting to reduce immigration.

When he was a senator, Mr Obama voted in favour of a bi-partisan immigration reform bill in 2007, a move that helped him to secure 66 per cent of Hispanic votes last year. However, widespread public opposition eventually forced that bill, which was backed by George Bush, to be scrapped.