Lou Dobbs, the longtime CNN anchor whose anti-immigration stance allegedly made him the target of a “drive-by shooting” last month, has announced that he is leaving the cable news channel after 29 years — effective immediately.

“Some leaders in the media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond my role here at CNN and engage in constructive problem-solving,” the host of Lou Dobbs Tonight said just after 7PM Wednesday. “I’m considering a number of options and directions,” the journalist added.

His contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011, but the network agreed to release him early.

“Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere,” Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/U.S. said in a statement. “All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom.”

New Jersey State Police were called to Dobbs’ home last month to investigate reports of gunfire. Dobbs has suggested that his family is being targeted because of his unpopular views on illegal immigration and border security.

Dobbs had been with CNN since its launch in 1980 and was the last of the network’s original anchors.