There are reports in the United States that President Barack Obama could move on immigration reform as early as next week.
The President's plan would potentially protect up to five million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
President Obama has repeatedly said that he would take executive action to "fix" the country's "broken" immigration system, if Congress did not pass a bill to do so.
Speaking after the midterm elections last week, Barack Obama warned that he would issue an Executive Order before the end of the year.
The Republican party - which now controls both houses of Congress - warned that if he did so, he would destroy any relationship with them.
It is understood that the main part of the President's order would allow undocumented immigrants who are the parents of American citizens or legal residents to stay in the United States, by issuing them with legal work papers.
Any such plan would be retro-active and would only apply to undocumented people who had been living illegally in the United States for a set number of years, reportedly anywhere between 5 or 10 years.
The President has also spoken in the past about changing the visa system to make it easier for immigrants with high-tech skills to work in the United States, and it is understood that his Executive Action will also address this.
Mr Obama has previously said that he does not want to "just wait" when he could take action to improve the situation for millions of people who had travelled to the United States for a better life, and were anxious to play a full part in US society.
The President is currently travelling through Asia and will return to the United States on Sunday, so an announcement is not expected before then.
However it still could be a number of weeks away.
Speaking in Myanmar today, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Mr Obama was "nearing a final decision" on the matter, and that his goal remained to act on immigration reform by the end of the year.
Members of the Republican party have threatened to resist the President's measures by including a specific ban on Presidential executive actions in this year's Budget.
Barack Obama has said that if Congress passes a Bill on immigration reform, he will withdraw his executive actions.
Irish activists lobby US politicians over immigration reform
