Obama to address immigration reform in coming months
3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Barack Obama will present plans for immigration reform this year, Hispanic lawmakers said Wednesday after strategic talks at the White House.

Obama "was clear and eloquent and determinate to let us know that we are all together in the route of comprehensive immigration reform," Democratic lawmaker Luis Gutierrez told reporters after the discussion between the president and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC).

"We believe that we are moving forward this year, we are going to work with the president," added CHC leader Nydia Velazquez.

Obama will convene a public forum on the issue "probably in two months," according to New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez.

The White House said in a statement that the meeting was "robust and strategic" and that Obama will work with CHC members to address immigration reform "in both the short and long term."

Two legislative measures to reform immigration failed to gain traction in Congress in 2006 and 2007, as lawmakers grappled with the task of addressing the 12 million undocumented would-be immigrants in the United States.

In the meeting CHC members made "absolutely clear that this is the civil rights issue of our community and that we will all be judged on how we act on this issue," added Gutierrez.

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