Who Are The 5 Million Immigrants Covered By Executive Action?

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And we just heard Scott refer to as many as 5 million immigrants who could be covered by the president's executive action. There are nearly 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. So who are the 5 million?

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Well, the White House has not publicly spelled out the details. But immigration policy experts have made some educated guesses, and here are a few of them.

BLOCK: Many of the 5 million may be parents or spouses of U.S. citizens. The Migration Policy Institute says that category alone amounts to an estimated 3.8 million people.

SIEGEL: Another possibility - let more so-called dreamers apply. These are immigrants brought to the U.S. before they turned 16. They have to meet various qualifications in order to stay in the country legally. And the president could expand those criteria.

BLOCK: And another thought - the president could include parents and spouses of dreamers and green card holders. You might hear a theme here. Family reunification has come up a lot when President Obama talks about immigration policy. Here he is this past June.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Maybe more families who've been living here for years, whose children are often U.S. citizens, for our neighbors and our friends. And whose children are our kids' friends and go to school with them and play on ball teams with them. Maybe those families would get to stay together. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.