President Obama promised during the election campaign that Immigration reform will be high on his list once elected president. Speaking to Hispanic reporters at the White House, Obama said last week he hopes a bill for comprehensive immigration reform will be drafted by the end of this year.
Obama tapped Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on June 25 to work with Congress to speed up immigration reform as senators warned another failed effort could doom chances for a generation. Obama said he asked Napolitano to meet regularly with lawmakers to systematically work through a number of controversial issues, such as how to handle the 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and how to prevent future illegal immigration.
The president has been criticized for not following through on a campaign pledge to tackle the issue this year. He has urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to start pushing now to pass legislation.
bama joked that his opponents had another reason to block his immigration reform effort: “There are many members of the Republican Party who think now that I am illegal immigrant,” he said.