President reportedly plans to address the thorny issue of immigration reform this year including searching for a way for illegal immigrants to become legal a senior administration official says.
President Obama is gearing up for yet another legislative battle this time over the contentious issue of immigration according to a New York Times report that says one of the goals will be to a create a path for illegal immigrants to become legal.
The push for immigration reform would echo one of Obamas campaign pledges though its success is uncertain in a tough economic climate.
Administration officials told the Times that Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May and will press lawmakers from both parties to begin discussing legislation by the fall.
But the White House downplayed the report with a spokesman telling FOX News the president consistently said the debate over immigration reform would start this year. The spokesman said nobody is claiming the problem will be fixed this year.
The spokesman pointed out a lengthy response Obama gave at a town hall meeting in California in March when Obama called for strengthening the border and creating a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. He did not give a timeframe however for when this debate would occur.
This is not going to be a free ride. Its not going to be some instant amnesty Obama said at the time. Whats going to happen is you are going to pay a significant fine. You are going to learn English. You are going to go to the back of the line so that you dont get ahead of somebody who was in Mexico City applying legally. But after youve done these things over a certain period of time you can earn your citizenship.
The goal of the program will be policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system Cecilia Munoz director of the White Houses intergovernmental affairs told the Times. He intends to start the debate this year.
However the new push for immigration reform would come in the wake of the failure two years ago of the Secure Borders Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act. That bill received criticism from both sides of the immigration debate despite being portrayed as a compromise between legalization of illegal immigrants and increased border enforcement.
During Obamas campaign he pledged to bring people out of the shadows through a system that would allow the 12 million undocumented immigrants to pay a fine learn English and go to the back of the line in the citizenship process.
Opponents mainly Republicans say they will seek to mobilize popular outrage against any effort to legalize unauthorized immigrant workers while so many Americans are out of jobs the Times said.
Read the full report at the New York Times
FOX News Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.
President reportedly plans to address the thorny issue of immigration reform this year including searching for a way for illegal immigrants to become legal a senior administration official says.
President Obama is gearing up for yet another legislative battle this time over the contentious issue of immigration according to a New York Times report that says one of the goals will be to a create a path for illegal immigrants to become legal.
The push for immigration reform would echo one of Obamas campaign pledges though its success is uncertain in a tough economic climate.
Administration officials told the Times that Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May and will press lawmakers from both parties to begin discussing legislation by the fall.
But the White House downplayed the report with a spokesman telling FOX News the president consistently said the debate over immigration reform would start this year. The spokesman said nobody is claiming the problem will be fixed this year.
The spokesman pointed out a lengthy response Obama gave at a town hall meeting in California in March when Obama called for strengthening the border and creating a pathway to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. He did not give a timeframe however for when this debate would occur.
This is not going to be a free ride. Its not going to be some instant amnesty Obama said at the time. Whats going to happen is you are going to pay a significant fine. You are going to learn English. You are going to go to the back of the line so that you dont get ahead of somebody who was in Mexico City applying legally. But after youve done these things over a certain period of time you can earn your citizenship.
The goal of the program will be policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system Cecilia Munoz director of the White Houses intergovernmental affairs told the Times. He intends to start the debate this year.
However the new push for immigration reform would come in the wake of the failure two years ago of the Secure Borders Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act. That bill received criticism from both sides of the immigration debate despite being portrayed as a compromise between legalization of illegal immigrants and increased border enforcement.
During Obamas campaign he pledged to bring people out of the shadows through a system that would allow the 12 million undocumented immigrants to pay a fine learn English and go to the back of the line in the citizenship process.
Opponents mainly Republicans say they will seek to mobilize popular outrage against any effort to legalize unauthorized immigrant workers while so many Americans are out of jobs the Times said.
Read the full report at the New York Times
FOX News Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.
