Thousands of illegal immigrants to be allowed to stay and work in US Janet Napolitano, Mr Obama's homeland security secretary, said laws on deportations should not be "blindly enforced" on "productive young people" who were in the US "through no fault of their own." There are up to 11 million illegal migrants in the US, up to two million of whom are young people brought in by their parents, according to migration group estimates. The order directly ushered in some parts of the Dream Act, a plan that went further by offering a path to citizenship to young migrants, which was blocked by Republicans in Congress in 2010. The proposed Act, which the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney pledged to veto, is a key priority for many Latino voters, whose ballots could prove decisive in toss-up states such as Florida, Colorado and Nevada in November's presidential election. Republicans were furious at being circumvented. Marco Rubio, a Senator for Florida, claimed the order would wreck attempts to comprehensively overhaul illegal immigration. "By once again ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, this short-term policy will make it harder to find a balanced and responsible long-term one," he said. Steve King, a Republican congressman for Iowa, pledged to sue the Obama administration to prevent the directive being enforced. Viridiana Hernandez, a 21-year-old undocumented immigrant in Arizona, told The Daily Telegraph that she planned to apply for a work permit, which can be renewed every two years. "It is a huge step forward and a relief for students like me," she said. Mr Obama's move was welcomed cautiously by Juan Escalante, a spokesman for DREAM Activist, a Florida-based pressure group. "It's an exciting day, but there are reasons for scepticism," he said. Activists expressed concern about what would happen to applicants who had "outed" themselves as illegal migrants if Mr Obama were ousted in November by Mr Romney, who could scrap the change. It was also unclear whether immigration authorities could pursue the parents of applicants, who would effectively be outed as undocumented themselves yet would be too old to apply for permits. The President won Latinos by 36 points over John McCain, his Republican opponent in 2008, and leads Mr Romney by a similar figure, according to polls. However allies feared that he was facing the prospect of a depressed turnout after failing to enact immigration reform as he promised, and increasing deportation rates since coming to power. "This is definitely something that will reignite enthusiasm among the base," said Mr Escalante. This is a start in delivering something that people have been demanding for years.