President Obama officially signs immigration executive order in Las Vegas high school

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Surrounded by a cheering crowd in the same Las Vegas high school he first promised to reform America's immigration system, President Barack Obama signed an executive order suspending deportation efforts against over 5 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

"Our success as a Nation of immigrants is rooted in our ongoing commitment to welcoming and integrating newcomers into the fabric of our country," the executive order states.

"It is important that we develop a Federal immigrant integration strategy that is innovative and competitive with those of other industrialized nations and supports mechanisms to ensure that our Nation's diverse people are contributing to society to their fullest potential."

"The bottom line is mass amnesty would be unfair, but mass deportation would be both impossible and contrary to our contrary's character," summarized the president to Del Sol High School.

"What we are offering is accountability ... This is not just a Latino issue. This is an American issue."

"The president began this conversation in Vegas and wants to make the point that he has been trying and he is back with something, and it's Congress that has been the obstructionist," Louis DeSipio, professor of political science at the University of California at Irvine, explained to the Wall Street Journal.

"The message to Nevada's Latinos is not lost on going to Las Vegas. Nevada is now a purple state precisely because of Latinos. It's important for the president and the party, starting with [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid."