Obama's Full Speech on Immigration

My fellow Americans, tonight I'd like to talk about immigration.
For over 200 years, our tradition of welcoming immigrants from around the world has given us a huge advantage over other nations. He has remained young and dynamic entrepreneurs. It has shaped our character as a people with unlimited possibilities, no persons trapped by our past, but able to reinvent ourselves as we want.
But today, our immigration system is broken, and everyone knows it.
Families who enter our country the right way and follow the rules as they see others break them. Business owners who offer their employees good wages and benefits are competitive exploit undocumented immigrants paying much less. All of us offends us all the rewards that anyone living in the United States without complying with the responsibilities that come with living in America takes. And undocumented immigrants who desperately want to embrace those responsibilities are not choice but to stay in the shadows, or risk having their families being separated.

It has been so for decades. And for decades, we have not done much about it.
When I took office, I pledged to fix the immigration system that does not work. And I started doing what I could to secure our borders. Today, we have deployed more agents and technology to secure our southern border than at any time in our history. And in the past six years, illegal border crossings have declined by more than half. Although this summer, there was a brief spike in unaccompanied children were seized at our border, the number of such children is actually lower now than it has been in nearly two years. In general, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is at its lowest level since the early 70 Those are the facts.
Meanwhile, I have worked with Congress on a comprehensive solution, and last year, 68 Democrats, Republicans and independents came together to pass a bipartisan bill in the Senate. It was not perfect. It was a compromise, but reflected common sense. It would have doubled the number of Border Patrol agents, while offering undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship if they paid a fine, began to pay taxes and returned at the end of the row. And independent experts said it would help grow our economy and reduce our deficit.

If the House of Representatives would have allowed such a simple bill to vote for or against, would have been approved with bipartisan support, and today would be the law. But for a year and a half, Republican House leaders have refused to allow such simple vote.
I still believe that the best way to solve this problem is to work together to pass such a law of common sense. But until that happens, there are steps that I have legal authority to make as President-the same types of measures adopted by Republican and Democratic presidents before me-that will help make our immigration system fairer and more appropriate.
Tonight, I'm announcing the measures.
First, we will build on our progress on the border with additional resources to our law enforcement so they can stop the flow of illegal crossings, and speed up the return of those who cross.
Secondly, I will make it easier and faster for highly skilled migrants, entrepreneurs and graduates to stay and contribute to our economy, as suggested by many business leaders.
Third, we will take steps to address responsibly the millions of undocumented immigrants already living in our country.

I wish to say more about this third issue, since it generates more passion and controversy. Although we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. The undocumented workers breached our immigration laws, and I think it should be held accountable especially those that can be dangerous. So in the past six years, criminal deportations have risen to 80 percent. And that is why we will continue to concentrate enforcement resources on law enforcement real threats to our security. In criminals, not families. In criminal, not children. In gang members, not a mother who is working hard to support their children. We will give priority, as it does every day law enforcement.
But even as we focus on deporting criminals, the fact is that millions of immigrants-in every state, of every race and nationality still be living here illegally. And be honest -rastrear, detain and deport millions of people is unrealistic. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not being honest. Nor is who we are as people living in the United States. After all, most of these immigrants have been here a long time. They work hard, often in difficult and low-paying jobs. Support their families. They pray in our churches. Many of their children were born in the United States or have been here most of their lives, and their hopes, dreams and patriotism are the same as ours.
As my predecessor, President Bush, said long ago: "They are part of life in America."
Now the question is this: we expect people who live in this country follow the rules. We hope that those who get in the row will not be unjustly rewarded. So we will offer the following: If you have been in the US for more than five years; if you have children who are US citizens. UU. or legal residents; if you join, it is found that no criminal record, and are willing to pay the portion of taxes it deserves, then you can ask to stay in the country temporarily without fear of being deported. It may leave the darkness and have everything in order.
That's what this opportunity is all about. Now, let's clarify what is not offered. It does not apply to anyone who has entered this country recently. It does not apply to anyone who comes to the United States illegally in the future. Not granted citizenship and the right to stay here permanently or offer the same benefits received by citizens - only Congress can do it. All they are offering is not deported.
I know some people who criticize this measure call it amnesty. However, it is not. Amnesty is the immigration system we have today, millions of people living here without paying their taxes and obey the law, while politicians use this issue to scare people and to vote at election time.
That is the real amnesty: leave this system does not work as is. A massive amnesty would be unfair, but a mass deportation would be both impossible and contrary to our character. What I am describing now is accountability; a strategy with a sense that reaches a happy medium: If you qualify, you can emerge from the shadows and do everything according to the law. If he's a criminal, will be deported. If you are planning to enter the United States illegally, just increase the chances of it caught and sent back.
The steps I am taking are not only legitimate, but they are the type of actions that each of the Republican and Democratic presidents have taken in the last half century. I have one answer for those members of Congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, or question my sanity to act when Congress did not: Approve a bill. I work with both parties for a more permanent legislative solution is adopted. The measures to take now on will no longer be necessary to sign the bill. Meanwhile, do not allow a disagreement on one issue is the dealbreaker with respect to all problems. That's not how our democracy, and no doubt Congress should not reseal our administration simply because we do not agree on this. People living in the United States are tired of it all crash. What have our country needs us at this time is a common goal: a higher purpose.
Most people in EE. UU. support the types of reforms that we've talked about tonight. However, I understand the dissatisfaction that some of you at home. Millions of us, myself included, are descended from families who have been in this country for generations, have ancestors who worked so hard to become citizens. So we do not like the notion that anyone can get a free pass to be a US citizen. I know some are concerned that the migration will change the fabric that characterizes us, or there will be fewer jobs, or it will hurt more to middle-class families at a time when they already feel they have not fared very well over a decade. I present their concerns. However, these measures will not cause this. Our history and the facts show that immigrants are a net benefit to our economy and our society. So I think it's important that all of us have this debate without questioning the character of the other.
Because despite all disagreements in Washington, we must remember that this debate is about something bigger. This is who we are as a country, and we want to be for future generations.
Are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of a system in which workers pick our fruit and tending our beds never get a chance to get right with the law? Or are we a nation that gives them a chance to make up, take responsibility, and provide a better future for their children?
Are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of removing children from the arms of their parents? Or are we a nation that values families, and works to keep them together?
Are we a nation that educates the best and brightest in our universities in the world, only to send them home to create companies in countries that compete against us? Or are we a nation that encourages them to stay to create jobs, companies and industries here in America?
That's what this debate is about. We need more than policy when it comes to immigration; need consistent, thoughtful and compassionate discussion that focuses on our hopes and not our fears.
I know the policy on this issue involves several difficulties. But let me tell you why I have come to feel so strongly about this issue. In recent years, I have seen the determination of immigrant parents working two or three jobs without receiving a penny from the government, and at all times the risk of losing everything, just to build a better life for their children. I have seen the anguish and anxiety of children whose mothers could be away from them for not having proper documentation. I've seen the courage of the students, except for the circumstances of their birth, are as American as Malia or Sasha bravely come out as undocumented immigrants hoping to make a difference in a country they love. These people, our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends, did not come here for opportunistic or an easy life. They came to work, study, and serve in our armed forces, and above all, contribute to the success of the United States.
Tomorrow, I will travel to Las Vegas and I will meet with some of these students, including a young woman named Astrid Silva. A Astrid brought to the United States when he was four years old. His only possessions were a cross, his wrist and frilly dresses she was wearing - a dress that her mother has. When school started, he did not speak any English. To catch up with the other children, she was reading the newspaper and watching PBS; and so it became a good student. His father worked as a gardener. His mother cleaned the house of others. They did not let Astrid introduce an application for admission to a magnet school technology for fear that the proceedings revealed that she was an illegal immigrant; so she submitted the application on the back of his parents and entered. However, they usually lived in the shadows, until her grandmother, who came to visit Mexico every year since died and she could not travel to the funeral without the risk of being discovered and deported. It was then that he decided to advocate for herself and others like her; Astrid Silva and today is a college student working on his third title.
Are we a nation that casts a hopeful immigrant who strives to Astrid or are a nation that finds a way to welcome?
The Scriptures tell us that we should not oppress the alien, because we know the heart of an immigrant, because we were once immigrants.
My fellow citizens, we are and will always be a nation of immigrants. We too were once immigrants. And if our ancestors were immigrants who crossed the Atlantic or the Pacific or the Rio Grande, we are simply here because this country welcomed them and taught them to be American goes beyond how we look or our names or what religion practice. What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal; that we are all created equal and that everyone has the opportunity to make our lives what we want.
This is the country that our parents, grandparents and generations before they built for us. That is the tradition that we maintain. That is the legacy that we leave for those who come.
Thank you, God bless you and God bless this country we love.