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Subscribe to RSSEL PASO, Texas -- Expect to hear a lot more about immigration in the next two years, but not because anything is likely to get done on Capitol Hill.
In a speech that had all the hallmarks of a campaign -- the hand shaking, the outdoor event, chants of “Yes, we can” -- President Obama sought to build a “movement” around comprehensive immigration reform.
“We need Washington to know that there is a movement for reform gathering strength from coast to coast,” Obama said here steps from the U.S.-Mexico border. “That’s how we’ll get this done.”
And there were plenty of political shots to go around, especially for Republicans.
"We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement," Obama said. "But even though we've answered these concerns, I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goal posts one more time. They'll say we need to triple the border patrol. Or quadruple the border patrol. They'll say we need a higher fence to support reform. Maybe they'll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat.
"They'll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That's politics."
The president, however -- in his first trip here to the border since taking office -- did not offer any new details on what he would like to see in an immigration-reform bill, nor did he press a timeline. (The specifics he offered today were similar to what was offered in his July 2010 speech.) Aboard Air Force One earlier today, NBC’s Athena Jones reports that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said he would not preview their legislative strategy.
One thing is clear, pressing this issue publicly is important to Obama’s reelection chances. Hispanics are the largest-growing group in the country, according to 2010 Census data. They now comprise 16% of the U.S. population, yet they comprised just 9% of the 2008 electorate. And they broke overwhelmingly for Obama, 67%-31%.
President Obama also talked about how immigrants have made great contributions to the country – in creating businesses like Intel and Google, that they, for the most part, come to America looking for work and to help their families. But he tried to strike a moderate tone, again saying immigrants who came here illegally and broke the rules need to pay a fine, learn English and go to the back of the line.
“Everyone recognizes the system is broken,” Obama said. “The question is, will we summon the political will to do something about it?”
He blamed “politics,” “rhetoric,” and “Washington games” on why comprehensive immigration reform hasn’t passed in Congress.
“The question is whether those in Congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work we’ve started,” the president said. “We have to put the politics aside. And if we do, I’m confident we can find common ground. Washington is behind the country on this.”
He continued, “[T]there is a consensus around fixing what’s broken. Now we need Congress to catch up to a train that’s leaving the station.”
The president now heads to Austin, Texas, for two fundraisers for his reelection.
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Mister President. You already HAVE a job and it's supposed to be presiding over your useless, log-jammed Congress that can't or won't seriously resolve our devastating DEBT issue. Your job is NOT campaigning 24-7.
What a complete waste of the Oval Office. Anyone of Latino background who can't see the obvious reason behind his platitudes, promises, and incessant trolling for votes is showing their complete lack of understanding how American politics works. Promise the moon, say anything, for that all-important vote. Blah, blah, blah...
He did the same thing as a senator. Did you expect him to some how change?
He has already got his free ride and the best medical insurance anyone could ask for for the rest of his life.
One thing we could do regarding immigration is: Fine the country the illegal immigrant comes from, in the amount it takes to support them.
Ex. Lets say Mexico gets some aid from the U.S. every year. Set a fixed amount per illegal immigrant and reduce the aid to that country by that amount. How does Zero $$ in aid sound?
I bet somehow they'd control their fair share of those borders better.
Mach Tool. I live in Texas and I can tell you that a few years ago it was reported that the main source of income in Mexico was like $10 Billion/year and it was from money being sent back to Mexico from the US by illegal workers. Mexico has no motivation to help with immigration issues. When the economy was bad and not as many illegals were getting jobs here, Mexico requested aid from the US to supplement their lost income.
campaign-like speech? Why not just all it what it was - a campaign speech which os the only thing this clown knows how to do plus piss away more money on jet fuel for Flying Carpet One.
This has got nothing to do with being Democrat or Republican. It has to do with what is right. Illegals are criminals and should not be given amnesty. If they want to come here do it correctly. Our borders are getting more secure, then great keep working on that and keep working on sending the criminals back to where they came from. They are costing us billions in tax dollars every year and the money we would save could be used to help keep our borders secure.
The idiots that want to give them amnesty are just saying it is ok to steal from the citizens of the US.
The Liberals and the Leftists just cannot push themselves to address the economy and the Debt. Obama is a joke !
His Immigration speech is trash. He nor the Dems have any real plans to do immigration reform , they just want the votes . They have a total of 1200 National Guardsman on the Border and the GAO openly stated yesterday,, 44 % of the Southern Border is not secured or manned. El Paso is near the worst area of terror and drug activity on the border and bullets from Mexico have freguently hit buildings in El Paso from Mexico.
Obama cannot force himsellf to 1 simple thing. Address the Deficit and the Economy ! He is clueless . Obama and the Democrats warn about not approving the Debt Ceiling Increase,, but refuse to cut spending which makes raising the Debt Ceiling USELESS. Without cuts,, we just face this same sad Democratic driven Bankruptcy of everyone ,, again in a few months.
Obama's answer is to drive the Debt Ceiling to an estimated $30 Trillion by 2010 . Do you Liberals actually believe America survives under that scenario ??????
You probably do if you are stupid enough to back Obama. Each day the man proves to be nothing but an Empty Suit,, a Used Car Salesman promising things he cannot deliver,, like Immigration Reform.
How many times does Obama have to fail before you lame brain Leftists admit he is clueless ?
As this economic morass continues to go on Obama has NO CHANCE TO BE RE_ELECTED !
* Foreclosures Rising across America
* Unemployment going UP !
* $ 4 + Gas Prices as Obama shuts down the Energy sector and has NO Energy Plan at all !
* Fannie Mae asking for another $9 billion but can never repay the $150 + Billion Obama already gave them .
* GM unable to repay the Bail Out. Yet Ford in the best shape ever. That simply proves the Feds cannot run a business,, least of all America's business !
* Record Law Suits against the Federal Gov. by a MAJORITY OF STATES !
* Blue - Pro Union - Social Justice States going underwater and a massive move to Right to Work States .
* Caterpillar, Sears and a host of other large corporations looking to flee Illinois after they raised State and Corporate Income Tax Rates. Illinois at its very worst and controlled by Democratic Crooks.
* Conventionally Democratic STates such as Wisconsin, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, turning to Right leaders to save their States,, and the Unions battling them at every step.
* The 2010 elections will make the Butte Whipping the Democrats took then look tame versus what will happen in 2012. How can anyone believe the Democrats who cannot even pass a budget for the country ,,, be able to get our economy going again ??? Obama and the Democrats are a joke to the entire world ,,, China, Japan, France, Britain, Germany, Canada -- all openly shaking their heads at Obama and Congress,, unable to face the Deficit issue and refusing to cut spending or address Entitlements ? Illinois , home of Feisty and Beveryly ,, hopeless unable to pay their bills so they raise taxes,, it is the only solution the Democrats have.
It would be laughable if the truth that the Democrats have gone so far left,, they have only 2 topics to offer,, as well as unending slurs and lies,,
Tax the Rich ! -- If they took every penny of every large corporation and those making over $200,000--- every single cent,, it would not run the Government for 3 months.. Get Real !
Racism ,,,, I am so tired of hearing people hate Obama because of his race,,, he is 50% White,, It is his stupid Socialism that the American Public Rejects ! He has no programs,, he has no answers, he has campaign speeches,, and I cannot wait for 2012 elections ,,, if we survive Obama that long.
America will be bankrupt before Obama runs again.
shaki
You are so uneducated Repulicans have never got us out of the debt its always been Dems got us on track. Repulicans have always wanted us to be thier slaves that includes whites middleclass and poor they work for the rich bought and paid for Repluicans they are thier masters.
You better re-read your statement and look at yourself as the "uneducated".
lmao.......I was thinking the exact same thing!
There are US Federal laws and the government is not enforcing them. Who can trust the Government as it stands with OBAMA as the head. They should gather up all illegals and ship them out. End of story. Until they do this there is no discussion. They can take their anchor babies with them.
They should not have the right to not enforce the law. Enforce the law idiots.
The Democat Controlled Senate is unable to pass a Bill to address the Deficit. Even they reject Obama's proposed 2012 Budget.. Since Pelosi and Reid took over,, the National Debt has more than doubled.
Obama has answers ? He can't even find his office !
Watch the polls once the diversion of Bin Laden's being assassinated ,,, wears thin.
Nothing is in place to fix our economy,, Obama's " Lazer Like Focus " is on Campaign Speechs. Obama ignores the critical problems facing all our citizens,, the Economy and the DEBT . .. he has no answers,,
Obama has one 1 single thing correctly,,, he took advantage of the Intel work created by Bush,,, to terminate Osama Bin Laden,,, and he did a good job of strategy in how that was handled.
Other than that ,, there is not a single successful action the Obama Administration of Radical Leftists and Communists ( funny how all the American Communist Parties,,, back Obama :-) have put in place...
Stimulus,, Financial Regulation , Obama Care,, all disasters ! I will also give Obama credit for keeping us basically out of Libya.. I use the facts,, not ideology to determine my opinions.
The saddest part for the LEFT,, the Democratic Party has been Hijacked by Obama and the Progressives.. there are no longer any Moderates among the Democrats..
Obama, Clinton, Hoyer, Reid , Pelosi, Durbin, Conrad, -- the Dems are all Far Left in a Center Right Country,,, that will never work.
Obama has zero chance of being Re -Elected,, no matter how many Campaign Lies and Promises he makes as the country is begging for Congress to work together,, Obama refuses to work with Republicans.
Obama is a Tyrant. He will go down..
Wait and see :-)
Making fun of the US citizen is not the way to get re-elected, Mr. President! The moat statement was uncalled for.
I agree with you. Obama is an arrogant man who is using his current office to bully those who disagree with him.
and that from the one who called for a new "civility" Its why I cant stand liberals - their ALWAYS the biggest hypocrits
As far as politicians who will say ANYTHING to get re elected go, Obama truly shines. Other than his dimwitted homeland security chief is there ANYONE who seriously believes our borders are secured? Have they removed the signs from the Arizona State Park warning tourists that these are the areas where the drug smugglers hide? Don't think so.
He is simply pandering to the Hispanic community, a fact that really offends me. He simply doesn't have the guts to say what the truth is. We are being overrun with "good" illegals and "bad" illegals. And however you regard the situation as to what to do with folks who are alredy living here, this flow must stop, both for our sake and the sake of the Hispanic people who are being used, abused and then slaughtered by the drug cartels.
Whopping 1% of Americans think that economy is doing very good - CNN Poll 5/6/2011
87% think it is poor.
Why do you think Obama you deserve another term or are competent to do this job? Just because you ordered OBL to be killed?
And when will you start governing instead to campaigning?
“Everyone recognizes the system is broken,” When someone says something like this, you know they are full of it. He has no direct knowledge of what "everyone" recognizes, believes, knows, etc. The fact is that the system is only broken in as much as it is not being applied. The "system" is only broken for people who refuse to work within the system. For those who do work within the system, the system works just fine. We, as a soverign nation, have a right to decide who gets in and who doesn't. There can be no "free-for-all" when it comes to immigration. The current flood of illegals into this country is contributing to the bankrupting of our economy and flies in the face of our values of justice and law-and-order.
well well well, now we know why the border guards were told not to arrest illegals crossing the border. And what exactly does go to the back of the line mean? Right now it takes 10 years to come here legally. I'm all for sending them home until they're legal but I'm pretty sure that's not what he meant. I'm pretty sure he means to stick around here sucking up benefits legally while they wait in line in comfort.
I have lived in Texas my entire life and I am not sure how the Mexican illegals affect other parts of the country but I know how it does here:
Not only do we not require immigrants to learn English, every sign you see here now is in Eng, Braille, and Spanish.
Not only do we not require immigrants to learn English, most jobs here now you are required to be Bi-lingual. I guess instead of them learning English we are all going to have to learn Spanish just to have a job. We cater to illegals because it would be against civil rights that they do not have here!
When Rick Parry was running for re-election he swore he would not take federal stimulus money. He did however allow Highways dept and Education to accept it. For a couple of years there were new highways going up or old ones being repaired. New schools were popping up all over the place in smaller towns. This stimulus money was not only to upgrade some stuff but create jobs for Americans working on these schools and Highways. I work in the Architectural field and I know a lot of contractors. I know a few that won some of those bids for the federally funded projects and not one of them were looking for American workers to do the job, they hired illegals at near $5.00/hour, With our federally funded stimulus money paid for by taxpayers!
I am not going to bitch about not being able to understand the people at the drive thru window, that is my choice to go to but I do object to giving away citizenship to people that broke the law simply by coming here.
The fence that is being built is a joke, if you search Youtube you can find a video of two teenage girls in Mexico, they climbed to the top of the fence and reached over the other side in less than 10 seconds.
The only enforcement that will work is to come down hard on the people that give them jobs, these businesses are breaking the law, bypassing the Tax process and taking jobs away from American workers. When they are caught, put them in jail before you send them back to Mexico
Agree, corrupt businessmen; democrats or republicans who pay cash wages to illegal workers should be arrested and their businesses sold.
Eight years of a Republican president and six years of a Republican Congress with no results on immigration. Hell he got Osama when you guys couldn't/wouldn't.
Guess you forgot that Clinton couldn't either.
There is one solution I keep sending to my represenatives that I feel the American people could deal with.
1) All existing illegals in country must report themself and give information where they live. They will be given a renewable yearly guest worker license, a SSI number and a back of the line path to citizenship. OR serve 4 years in the military then get citzenship. Any new illegals will be deported and never allowed the chance to apply. EVER. So don't do it.
2) A minimum of 10 years ineligibility to vote in ANY election.
3) A fine appropriate for breaking immigration laws that can be paid alongside taxes.
4) No public assistance without a job. Work and get medicaid if you must or emplorer provided insurance. No food stamps or other taxpayer programs.
This is something that can be done in a bipartisan way. Everyone gets credit and millions of illegals would not then rush out and vote for one side or the other because *that side got them in the country.*
As for Mr. Obama's (cough) speech.
when he said
He sounded like a school yard bully. You are Republicans president also sir. Many who voted for your hope n change. Many who might vote for you again. So stop calling them names, starting class warfare and making fun of them. It makes you look like a real jackass.
Just so much more devisive race based politics from Obama and the Dems and their friends in the media. Same old same old, as well as factually incorrect. So much for "change we can believe in" from Present Obama
This POS is just the CLOWN PRINCE OF STUPIDITY and LYING and a country that apparently by a poll today says 60% of the country says he deserves to be re-elected which I find hard to believe since its the media saying this, then this country has taken stupidity to places I didn't think it would go but if that many people are happy with that POS more power to "em"IDIOTS that is. Also don't start the whining game when that hopey changey thing hasn't worked out for you democrap morons or us rethuglicans which still hasn't gone anywhere but down the drain so far, but being to stupid to admit it keep right on living in fantasy land.
Please Repulicans have done nothing about Jobs immigration they infact hire more illegals than anybody Obama has deported more illegals than any Preisdent and Reagon and George W and spent more money than other president. Gave tax cuts to the wealthy that is why mess first place no money comming in.
too much rhetoric and not enough facts (lol) Stop getting your facts from the media, it makes you look silly. Obama make the border guards stop arresting them for better numbers.
Living in the state of AZ. the ONLY thing I have seen obama do about immigration is sue the state of AZ. for following FEDERAL laws about immigration. He and that leach napolitano have made the illegal immigration problem here WORSE for lack of doing anything about it other than blame the GOP for it. I can understand why though, the dems needing all those new constituents and all.
We don't want reform. We want them out.
Obama thinks he has to insult others to look good to his base. If I were a part of his base, I would be insulted. Making someone else look bad doesn't elevate one's own standing. Surely, liberals, who are so much better educated (as we are routinely reminded), recognize this.
It just makes me think that he is in over his head and knows he can't fix it.
Everyone seems to be focusing on the illegal immigrants as being only mexican. Mexican's are most commonly seen as the ones who take jobs and send the money back to family. They are lower income and most likely to seek Government assistance with food and housing, but there are people from Pakistan, Afganistan, and other muslim countries also who are illegally in the united states. They come to the United States to seek education but they never return to their country. What is scary is these people can go into the military and get citizenship. Not say all muslim are dangerous, but Osama Bin ladin lived in Florida and owned property there. What if one of his son's was still here and wanted to get citizenship and joined the miilitary. This would make the dream act a very easy for Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups to ilffutrate our military. If they are college graduates they can even become a officer and move up in rank. For instance, both terrorist who flew the commercial airliners into the world trade center were trained to fly commercial aircraft in the United State. Plus Major Nidal Malik Hasan a U.S. Military Psychiatrist who killed 12 people and wounded 31 because he did not want to be deployed to Irac. As for as the Illegal Meican's, they have a real drug war going. Also makes it so easy to recruit and help ilffutrate the drug cartel's into the United States. All of this brought up is mostly for Obama to gain votes, but I don't think the " Dream Act" is a good choice expecially using the military as a choice.
Of course people realize that mexicans aren't the only illegal immigrants in the country but in the same breath i have to say that no other group of people has 12 to 20 million here illegally at the present moment.
Another liberal pass....
Obama flies over TWO natural disasters to get to Texas to talk about amnesty for illegals (i.e. votes for Obama) and raise funds for this billion dollar campaign. I wonder what the libtards and the MFMedia would be saying if this were Bush, Romney, Palin, etc.
I sure hope you Hispanics are smarter than he thinks you are.
Here's a hint...he's USING you for your vote. You won't be seeing the Dream Act pass - it's a promise he's making that he definitely can't keep.
This is only his campaign strategy to get our minds off of the economy, the housing crisis, the rising unemployment and the entitlements that will lead us into bankruptcy, and everything else he can't possibly be bothered with right now. He's got to get his ass in the WH for another 4 years to finish us off
Amazing the regime and the senate could have passed anything until Scott Brown was elected to the Senate, and now the regime is concerned about immigration. Just another trapbeing set by the regime, hopefully voters are waking up to the scams being purveyed here. Oh yeahhe said the fence is completed and done reality check 7% completed...