American Judgment

Obama: I've got 'five years' left to solve immigration


Seriously?  No one has a problem with this?

In an interview with Univision Radio, President Barack Obama said that he has "five years" left in his presidency to figure out issues like comprehensive immigration reform. Striking a confident note about his reelection prospects, Obama assured a largely Hispanic audience that he has not given up on getting an immigration bill done — one that would provide a pathway to citizenship.

"My presidency is not over," Obama told Univision's Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo. "I’ve got another five years coming up. We’re going to get this done."

Obama also said that Hispanic voters would ultimately face an easy choice in deciding between him and the Republican nominee in November — emphasizing his support for comprehensive immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship.

"So far, ... we haven’t seen any of the Republican candidates even support immigration reform. In fact, their leading candidate said he would veto even the DREAM Act, much less comprehensive immigration reform," Obama said, in an apparent reference to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. "So the choice at the presidential level will not be that difficult."  He’s absolutely right – the choice will not be that difficult.  Why would I vote for a president who wants me to force me to pay for illegal immigrants to go to college (as if we had money to spare at the Federal level)?  If Romeny is the nominee, I want him to show this clip and then say into the camera – “I don’t believe you should have to pay for people who have broken the law to have advantages your own children do not enjoy.  In America, we don’t reward people who break our laws.  I am a strong supporter of legal immigration, and I will work to simplify the process so those who desire a better life can pursue their dreams in the land of opportunity.  However, we will never bestow gifts on individuals who flaunt our laws and then come to us for handouts.  Not on my watch.”  You’re telling me that won’t receive a positive response?  I find that hard to believe.

Obama also defended his administration's approach to immigration, which has been characterized by a high level of deportations, saying that the law needed to be changed and Congress needs to act.

"The only way we’re going to do this is to get something passed through Congress, and that’s why we have to keep the pressure up. 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," Obama said.

Hispanic voters remain an important part of Obama's coalition, though his approval rating has dropped 30 points among Hispanics from a 2009 high of 86 percent approval. A more recent Univision/Latino Decisions poll, however, puts his approval back up to 72 percent. In 2008, Obama won the Latino vote by a 36-point spread, beating John McCain 67 percent to 31 percent, according to national exit polls.