President Obama Speaks on Immigration Reform
"It is time. Let's go get it done!" -President Obama on fixing our broken immigration system this year #ImmigrationReform
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 24, 2013
"It's good for our economy, good for our national security…and we should do it this year." -Obama on passing #ImmigrationReform
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 24, 2013
"The Senate has already passed an #ImmigrationReform bill by a wide, bipartisan majority." -Obama on why the House should #JustVote
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 24, 2013
Partial transcript (full transcript at the White House Press Site):
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Today I’m here with leaders from business, from labor, from faith communities who are united around one goal: finishing the job of fixing a broken immigration system. This is not just an idea whose time has come; this is an idea whose time has been around for years now. Leaders like all of you have worked together with Republicans and Democrats in this town in good faith for years to try to get this done, and this is the moment when we should be able to finally get the job done.
It doesn’t make sense to have 11 million people who are in this country illegally without any incentive or any way for them to come out of the shadows, get right with the law, meet their responsibilities and permit their families then to move ahead. It’s not smart; it’s not fair; it doesn’t make sense. We have kicked this particular can down the road for too long.
So this isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do. Securing our borders, modernizing our legal immigration system, providing a pathway to earned legalized citizenship, growing our economy, strengthening our middle class, reducing our deficits — that’s what commonsense immigration reform will do.
Now, obviously just because something is smart and fair and good for the economy and fiscally responsible and supported by business and labor — (laughter) — the evangelical community and many Democrats and many Republicans, that does not mean that it will actually get done. (Laughter.) This is Washington, after all.
I’d remind you that this reform won more than a dozen Republican votes in the Senate in June. I’m not running for office again; I just believe this is the right thing to do. I just believe this is the right thing to do. (Applause.)
And I also believe that good policy is good politics in this instance. And if folks are really that consumed with the politics of fixing our broken immigration system, they should look — take a closer look at the polls, because the American people support this. It’s not something they reject; they support it. Everybody wins here if we work together to get this done. In fact, if there’s a good reason not to pass this common-sense reform, I haven’t heard it. So anyone still standing in the way of this bipartisan reform should at least have to explain why. A clear majority of the American people think it’s the right thing to do.
And I have to say, [Vice President] Joe [Biden], as I look out at this room, these don’t look like people who are easily deterred. (Laughter.) They don’t look like folks who are going to give up. (Applause.) You look fired up to make the next push. (Applause.)
And whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or an independent, I want you to keep working, and I’m going to be right next to you, to make sure we get immigration reform done. It is time. Let’s go get it done. Thank you very much, everybody. (Cheers, applause.)
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