In a speech today in El Paso, Texas, calling for comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama said “we’re going to keep fighting for the DREAM Act.” He said it was a “tremendous disappointment” that the act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for some of the nation’s undocumented students, wasn’t approved by the U.S. Congress last year.
Most of the president’s speech focused on why Republicans and Democrats in Washington should work together to pass legislation to reform immigration laws in a big way. The president made the case that he’s addressed the concerns of Americans who felt that the federal government hadn’t paid enough attention to enforcement of immigration laws. For example, the federal government has strengthened border security, he said.
“We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement,” the president contended.
Also today, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, signed a bill in to law that gives undocumented students in-state college tuition rates in Maryland, the Associated Press reported.