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Eli Kantor is a labor, employment and immigration law attorney. He has been practicing labor, employment and immigration law for more than 36 years. He has been featured in articles about labor, employment and immigration law in the L.A. Times, Business Week.com and Daily Variety. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Journal. Telephone (310)274-8216; eli@elikantorlaw.com. For more information, visit beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com and and beverlyhillsemploymentlaw.com

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Obama to Hispanics: I've Got Another 5 Years to Fix Immigration

Wall Street Journal: President Barack Obama told a Hispanic audience that he has another five years coming up in his presidency and will use the time to push for an overhaul of the U.S. immigration system.

"My presidency is not over. I've got another five years coming up. We're going to get this done," the president said in an interview Wednesday with Univision Radio. The interview came ahead of the president's trip to Florida Thursday to deliver remarks on energy policy and the economy and to raise money for his re-election campaign.

The Hispanic community has criticized Mr. Obama for doing little to carry out his promise to overhauling the immigration system. They have also taken issue with the Obama administration's increase in deportations.

Mr. Obama said Republicans in Congress shoulder most of the blame for the lack of progress in changing the country's immigration laws. "Unfortunately, the Republican side, which used to at least give lip service to immigration reform, now they've gone completely to a different place, and have shown themselves unwilling to talk at all about any sensible solutions to this issue, and we're going to have to just keep up the pressure until they act," he said.

He also criticized Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. "So far, have we haven,t seen any of the Republican candidates even support immigration reform," the president said. He continued, "In fact, their leading candidate said he would veto even the Dream Act, much less comprehensive immigration reform."

The Dream Act would grant permanent-resident status to undocumented immigrant students who completed some college or military service. Mr. Romney has called the act a handout.

Latinos, who generally lean Democratic, will play a crucial role in the election in states such as Florida and Virginia. Mr. Obama said he doesn't think the choice for Latinos will be difficult.

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