The New York Times criticized president Barack Obama's immigration policy, and urged the White House to stop the massive deportation of unauthorized immigrants.

The newspaper talked about the subject in an editorial entitled "Yes He Can, on Immigration" after hundreds of immigrants took the streets on Saturday to demand deportations to be halted while Democrats and Republicans reach an agreement on an immigration reform.

"With nearly two million removals in the last five years, the Obama administration is deporting people at a faster pace than has taken place under any other president," the newspaper said.

"This enormously costly effort was meant to win Republican support for broader reform. But all it has done is add to the burden of fear, family disruption and lack of opportunity faced by 11 million people who cannot get right with the law. Because of Mr. Obama's enforcement blitz, more than 5,000 children have ended up in foster care," it added.

"It has been frustrating to watch his yes-we-can promises on immigration reform fade to protestations of impotence and the blaming of others," said The New York Times. 

According to the newspaper, Obama's approach is "unsustainable", and suggested that people who do not pose criminal threats, who have strong ties to the United States and, in many cases, have children who are American citizens, should not be in danger of deportation.

It concluded that "the administration needs to find ways to turn off the deportation machinery when it gets abused."

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