By Nicole Duran • 9/14/15 7:15 PM

President Obama on Monday lashed out at the "anti-immigrant sentiment" that he says has taken hold in Republican politics, and said the country needs to embrace the desire of non-citizens to become Americans.

"This whole anti-immigrant sentiment that's out there in our politics right now is contrary to who we are," Obama said while speaking at a town hall forum on education at North High School in Des Moines, Iowa. "Because unless you are a Native American, your family came from some place else."

"Don't pretend that some how, 100 years ago, the immigration process was all smooth and strict," Obama said. He argued that people came from all over the world to America, and "it wasn't some orderly process where all the rules applied and 'I came the right way.' That's not how it worked."

"Suddenly we are treating new immigrants as if they're the problem, when your grandparents were treated like the problem or your great-grandparents were treated like the problem," Obama added. "No, that's not who we are. We could have a legitimate debate about how to set up an immigration system that is fair, orderly and lawful."

"[B]ut when I hear folks talking that somehow these kids are different from my kids or less worthy in the eyes of God … I think that's un-American," he said. "I do not believe that. I think it is wrong."

Obama was answering a question about whether children whose parents brought them to this country illegally, known as Dreamers for the Obama proposal that would have allowed them to attend college or join the military and become citizens, should be able to qualify for federal student aid.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ob...rticle/2572028