Washington Post
By David Nakamura
June 11, 2013
President
Obama, his second-term agenda bogged down amid political controversies
and partisan gridlock, will attempt Tuesday to keep public pressure on
the Senate to move forward with a sweeping proposal to overhaul the
nation’s immigration system.
Obama
is scheduled to appear at the White House with a broad coalition of
immigration supporters to tout the legislation that has reached the
Senate floor this week. With the full chamber expected to engage in
weeks of debate, the president is trying to exert his influence while
not upsetting the delicate balance of a bipartisan group of eight
senators that negotiated the deal.
Though
Obama has made immigration reform one of his top second-term
priorities, his administration has played mostly a supportive role as
the senate group took the lead in drafting the legislation. White House
aides have said the president recognizes that being too far in front on
immigration could risk scaring off Republicans fearful of being tied too
closely with the administration.
But
opponents of the bill — which features a 13-year path to citizenship
for immigrants who are in the country illegally — are gearing up to
offer amendments aimed at delaying or denying the legalization process.
And Obama, who has been stymied on his efforts at new gun-control laws
and a grand bargain to reduce the deficit, has stepped up his
involvement in the immigration issue again this week.
“The
bill before the Senate isn’t perfect. It’s a compromise. Nobody will
get everything they want – not Democrats, not Republicans, not me,” he
said in his weekly radio address. “But it is a bill that’s largely
consistent with the principles I’ve repeatedly laid out for commonsense
immigration reform.”
Appearing
in the East Room on Tuesday, Obama will be joined by a coalition of
immigration reform supporters meant to illustrate the broad support.
Among them will be U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue,
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, former Bush administration Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, business executive Steve Case, and San
Antonio Mayor Julian Castro (D).
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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