President Barack Obama met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the White House on Tuesday. Photo by Pete Souza.
Latin America: Week in Review, United States

Obama Urges Congress To Pass Bipartisan, Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill

July 2, 2010 By Staff
President Barack Obama met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the White House on Tuesday. Photo by Pete Souza.

President Barack Obama met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the White House on Tuesday. Photo by Pete Souza.

Today in Latin America

Top Story —President Barack Obama gave a speech Thursday in which he pressed the U.S. Congress to pass a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform.

The White House said the speech, which had been announced Tuesday, was partially prompted by recent events, according to The BBC. The comment most likely alludes to a strict immigration law passed recently by Arizona that the Obama administration has criticized.

Obama lauded the country’s history as a society built by immigrants, saying “this steady stream of hardworking and talented people has made America the engine of the global economy and a beacon of hope around the world.”

But Obama also criticized the disorderliness of the current immigration system, saying “the presence of so many illegal immigrants makes a mockery of all those who are going through the process of immigrating legally.”

Obama’s major suggestions for immigration reform included securing the U.S.-Mexico border, punishing businesses that hire undocumented immigrants and obligating immigrants who entered the country illegally to admit they broke the law, pay a fine, and learn English before applying for citizenship.

He also noted that partisanship had played a role in preventing reform and called upon Republicans and Democrats to work with one another to craft a viable bill.

The speech, which Obama delivered at American University’s School of International Service in Washington, has been posted to the White House’s Web site.

Other Top News: The mayor and a city council member in a city in the Mexican state of Oaxaca were killed during an ambush in the third  political assassination in Mexico in the past two weeks.

Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch

  • Alison Bowen takes a look at what President Obama will discuss at his speech on immigration on Thursday, at Beyond Borders.

Headlines from the Western Hemisphere

North America

Caribbean

Central America

Andes

Southern Cone

Image: The White House @ Flickr.

Subscribe to Today in Latin America by Email