WASHINGTON
US President Barack Obama warned the Congress to take action for a comprehensive immigration reform, and said if Congress did not move, he'd send up his own immigration bill and want the Congress to approve it.
Obama said that currently there were 11 million illegal immigrants living in the US, and said, "yes, they broke the rules. But these 11 million men and women are now here. An overwhelming number of these individuals are not looking for any trouble. They're contributing members of the community."
Noting that the immigration problem in the country was not just bad for these people but also bad for the entire economy, Obama said, "because all the businesses that are hiring people legally, paying a decent wage, following the rules, they're the ones who suffer. They've got to compete against companies that are breaking the rules. And the wages and working conditions of American workers are threatened, too."
Obama said, "right now, there are brilliant students from all over the world sitting in classrooms at our top universities. They're earning degrees in the fields of the future, like engineering and computer science. But once they finish school, once they earn that diploma, they'll have to leave our country. Intel and Instagram were started with the help of an immigrant who studied here and then stayed here.", giving the message that such students should be kept in the U.S.
"During my first term, we took steps to try and patch up some of the worst cracks in the system," said Obama, and added, "first, we strengthened security at the borders so that we could finally stem the tide of illegal immigrants. Second, we focused our enforcement efforts on criminals who are here illegally and who endanger our communities. Third, we said that if you're able to meet some basic criteria like pursuing an education, then we'll consider offering you the chance to come out of the shadows so that you can live here and work here legally, so that you can finally have the dignity of knowing you belong."
Because this change isn't permanent, we need Congress to act, he said.
Obama's immigration reform plan centered on a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., improved border security, an overhaul of the legal immigration system and making it easier for businesses to verify the legal status of workers.
