Obama stumps for 'best chance' immigration bill

WASHINGTON – President Obama said Tuesday that the bipartisan immigration bill now before the Senate is the “best chance we’ve had in years” to fix a broken system and provide a route to citizenship for millions of immigrants who do not have legal status but contribute to the country every day.


Speaking in the East Room to an array of the measure’s supporters, Obama said there’s no reason Congress shouldn’t take action by the end of the summer – or no acceptable reason, anyway.

“There’s no good reason to stand in the way of this bill,” Obama said, “so if you’re serious about actually fixing the system, then this is the vehicle to do it.”

“If you’re not serious about it, if you think that a broken system is the best America can do, then I guess it might make sense to try to block it,” he said.

But some Republicans who say they’re serious about reform also say they're not sure they want to commit to an overhaul of the policy without greater assurances about border security.

Even as Obama began his remarks, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) was on the Senate floor raising concerns about that issue.

The Senate holds its first vote Tuesday on a bipartisan immigration proposal that would ramp up border security and lay out a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million residents now in the country illegally.

For the complete Los Angeles Times story, go here.