WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has said there is a good chance of pushing through contentious US immigration reform this year.
The reform, currently being debated in Congress, would pave the way for citizenship to 11 million undocumented people and accelerate the process of professionals from countries like India and China.
“I actually think that we have a good chance of getting immigration reform,” Obama told CNN in an interview.
Obama argued that this would not only create jobs, but also give a boost to the US economy.
“If the Speaker (of the US House of Representatives) proposes something that says right away folks aren’t being deported, families aren’t being separated, we’re able to attract top young students to provide the skills or start businesses here, and, then there’s a regular process of citizenship,” Obama said when asked about the recent move by the Republican Party on immigration reform.
He said that there is a desire to get it done.
“There is a desire to get it done. And that particularly in this Congress is a huge piece of business, because they haven’t got a lot done over the last couple of years out of the House Republican caucus. They’ve been willing to say what they’re against, not so much what they’re for. The fact that they’re for something, I think, is progress,” he said.
“I do know that for a lot of families, the fear of deportation is one of the biggest concerns that they’ve got and that’s why we took executive actions given my prosecutorial discretion to make sure we’re not deporting kids who grew up here and are Americans for all practical purposes, but we need to get that codified,” he said.
“And the question is, is there more that we can do in this legislation that gets both Democratic and Republican support but solves these broader problems, including strengthening borders and making sure that we have a legal immigration system that works better than it currently does,” Obama said.-PTI
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