President Barack Obama said on Friday he expects Congress to overhaul the country’s immigration system, an issue that fires up emotions on both sides of the political divide, by “early next year,” Reuters reports. Obama has been criticized for not following through on a campaign pledge to tackle the issue this year. He has urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to start pushing now to pass legislation.
Speaking to Hispanic reporters at the White House, Obama said he hopes a bill for comprehensive immigration reform will be drafted by the end of this year.
Obama tapped Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on June 25 to work with Congress to speed up immigration reform as senators warned another failed effort could doom chances for a generation.
Obama said he asked Napolitano to meet regularly with lawmakers to systematically work through a number of controversial issues, such as how to handle the 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and how to prevent future illegal immigration.
Congress failed in 2006 and 2007 to pass immigration reform despite a push by former Republican President George W. Bush.
Earlier this year, Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. economic slump and soaring unemployment made it a bad time to take on the issue.
Is there ever a good time to discuss immigration? I don’t think there will be. It’s something that we need to move forward with and address no matter how difficult it might be.
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