In one of his most anticipated speeches-the first State of the Union address since the November election-President Obama Tuesday emphasized once again the need for comprehensive immigration reform to pass in order to bolster the U.S. economy.
President Obama's speech largely focused on job creation, but the president tied that into immigration issues by pointing out that the country could bolster its economy by attracting more skilled high-tech workers from abroad while establishing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
"Our economy is stronger when we harness the talents and ingenuity of striving, hopeful immigrants," President Obama said Tuesday. "And right now, leaders from the business, labor, law enforcement, faith communities -- they all agree that the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Now is the time to do it. Now is the time to get it done."
"Real reform means establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship -- a path that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, learning English, and going to the back of the line behind the folks trying to come here legally," he continued.
Promise of a bill on immigration reform appears closer than ever as Democrats and Republican U.S. Senators have proposed a compromise bill that would install a pathway to citizenship while having employers perform mandatory immigration background checks on workers and beef up border security.
President Obama applauded their efforts in his speech and promised to sign a bill immediately if Congress could pass it within the year.
"Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months, and I will sign it right away. And America will be better for it," he said.
Reaction on President Obama's speech regarding immigration drew positive reaction from pro-immigration advocates.
"The president's remarks are yet another reminder that what seemed politically impossible only a year ago is now within our reach, if only for a fleeting moment, as Democrats have a political debt to pay and Republicans a party to save," Cheryl Little, director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, a Miami immigrant-advocacy group, told Reuters.
"Tonight was refreshing for its lack of immigration demagoguery," Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum told political news site The Daily Beast. "While significant policy differences are yet to be addressed, President Obama's State of the Union address, and Senator Rubio's Republican response, indicate a new consensus on immigrants and America is emerging. Obama pointed to support from Bibles, badges, and business who seek a just immigration solution. And Rubio called for a responsible immigration solution for the undocumented. On this most political of nights, in some ways, their immigration comments spoke to both parties."
However, some undocumented immigrants were less than thrilled regarding the prospect of President Obama's urging for giving high-skilled workers preference on immigration and sending undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. to the back of the line behind those applying the legal way.
"It made me angry," Sylvia Lopez, an undocumented resident in California for the last 22 years, told Talking Points Memo. "I don't have a doctorate or an advanced degree and I feel like I'm being excluded. But we low wage workers are the ones holding up the economy."
"It's going to happen soon, but we have no idea exactly what it is that's going to happen," Martin Unzueta, a labor organizer for immigrant workers in Chicago, told TPM. "Obama's speech hasn't changed in ten years, it's the same speech Bush gave to us."
In his GOP rebuttal, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., agreed with Obama that immigration has to be reformed in order to attract "the world's best and brightest" to U.S. shores for jobs that could lift the economy. However, he added, securing the nation's borders must be the priority first.
"We need a responsible, permanent solution to the problem of those who are here illegally. But first, we must follow through on the broken promises of the past to secure our borders and enforce our laws," Rubio said.