Obama mulls plan to protect 5m immigrants

The Obama administration is considering a plan that would shield possibly around 5m illegal immigrants from deportation as part of a broad set of executive actions that could be announced as early as next week, sources say.

Obama’s plan would cover millions of undocumented people living in the US for at least five years, according to figures from the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

The step would fall shy of what many immigrant advocates have been demanding, but is sure to enrage Republicans who are already trying to devise ways to thwart his actions.