Political News

By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama imposed the most sweeping immigration reform in a generation on Thursday, easing the threat of deportation for about 4.7 million undocumented immigrants and setting up a clash with Republicans. In a White House speech, Obama rejected Republican critics who say his decision to bypass Congress and take executive action is tantamount to amnesty for illegal immigrants and urged them to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has blocked. …

REUTERS – President Barack Obama will announce a series of executive fixes for the immigration system on Thursday, including several measures to help the technology sector deal with a web of complex rules for hiring foreign workers. The rule changes fall far short of what the industry says it needs, which would require action by Congress. The administration also rejected proposals made by tech companies that would speed up long wait lists for green cards, and recapture green cards that were issued but left unused for various technical reasons. Here are details about what will be proposed. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defying Republicans and bypassing Congress, President Barack Obama prepared to invoke his executive authority Thursday night to spare nearly 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from deportation. Millions more will remain in limbo.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers should look into options for punishing cyber-spying and the theft of trade secrets from U.S. companies, a congressional advisory committee on China said on Thursday. Congress should ask U.S. trade officials to report on whether they had power to sanction companies that benefited from stealing trade secrets, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its annual report to Congress. …