In an effort to woo Hispanic voters, President Obama made a pledge Saturday to push for immigration reform early in his second term. "This is something I care deeply about, [and] it’s personal to me," Obama told news anchor Enrique Acevedo in a television interview with Univision (photo), a network viewed largely by Hispanics in the United States. Obama’s appearances on Univision have been frequent, as Saturday marked the 15th time he has been interviewed by the network, which purportedly reaches 97 percent of Hispanic households in the United States.
The President spent the weekend in Cartagena, Colombia to convene with Latin American political and business leaders in an effort to bolster economic ties and remind Hispanic voters back home that he supports the region. Obama affirmed that he would remain dedicated to immigration policy up until the November election, while he blamed Republicans in Congress for allegedly bringing the issue to a standstill.
The President also took an opportunity to jab at Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, calling his political rival an extremist on immigration and warning that Romney would likely promote laws that allow for people to be stopped and forced to show citizenship papers if they are assumed illegal.
"So what we need is a change either of Congress or we need Republicans to change their mind, and I think this has to be an important debate during — throughout the country," the President averred. Obama advocates what he calls "comprehensive immigration reform," which, he claims, would ramp up border security while paving a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens who are already residing in the United States.
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