GOP Attacks Obama For Considering Changes To Deportation Policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and 21 other Republican senators are accusing President Barack Obama of disregarding the rule of law and the Constitution by considering administrative changes to the nation's deportations policy.

In a letter Thursday, the senators say changes under consideration would amount to, quote, "near complete abandonment of basic immigration enforcement."

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh (Jay) Johnson is weighing changes such as limiting deportations of immigrants who are here illegally but have little or no criminal record.

With comprehensive immigration legislation stalled, Obama is under intense, election-year pressure from immigrant advocates to act on his own to curb deportations.

Thursday's letter, circulated by Judiciary Committee top Republican Charles Grassley, underscores the political risk as Republicans are seizing on the review as the latest example of presidential overreach.

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