President Barack Obama said the drive to revamp the nation’s immigration laws has fallen victim to political games and “ugly rhetoric,” and that eliminating an underground economy fueled by illegal immigration will strengthen the U.S. middle class.
Obama, speaking in El Paso, Texas, along the U.S. border with Mexico, said his administration has answered critics who demanded stricter border enforcement and now it is time to overhaul the law to provide a legal path to residence for some of the 11 million people in the country illegally and revise an “outdated” system for legal immigration.
“Immigration reform is an economic imperative,” Obama said at the Chamizal National Memorial, which commemorates a 1963 treaty with Mexico that settled a century-long boundary dispute.
Obama invoked the successes of immigrants who went on to found Google Inc. (GOOG), Intel Corp. (INTC) and Yahoo! Inc. as proof that keeping the country open to foreign talent leads to job creation. Quoting Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates, Obama said the U.S. can’t remain competitive in the global economy by excluding talent.
“It’s for this reason that businesses all across America are demanding that Washington finally meet its responsibility to solve the immigration problem,” he said.
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Posted at 05:03 PM ET, 05/10/2011
Obama’s El Paso coup
By Lee Hockstader
In reiterating his vision for immigration reform today — a vision essentially identical to his predecessor’s — President Obama spoke truth to power, the power in this case being congressional Republicans.
The president’s speech in El Paso isn’t likely to make any difference to Republicans, who can and will continue to block any serious overhaul of immigration policy, which is to say anything that solves the problem of 11 million undocumented immigrants. But it may make plenty of difference to Hispanics, the nation’s biggest and fastest-growing minority, in reminding them who’s got their backs.
For the president, and for Democrats generally, that’s a massively helpful and timely reminder. It’s a virtual certainty that no Republican who even hints at eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants (read: amnesty) can win the GOP nomination for president next year. So while Hispanic voters watch Republicans brawl in primaries over who would be truly the meanest Deporter in Chief, the president can sit back and buy ads on Univision, reprising his El Paso speech. Translation: Who loves ya, baby?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/obamas-el-paso-coup/2011/05/10/AFaBXOjG_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions
I happen to agree with the President.
Hello S Night, and welcome to 3 Chics. The POTUS has definitely RAISED the bar.
I can’t wait to hear the president’s speech. Thanks so much SG2.