President Barack Obama has convened a meeting with religious leaders in order to talk about the issue of immigration reform in a move to try and increase the pressure on Republicans in the House of Representatives to take action and pass the much delayed bill.
All of those in attendance at the meeting in the Oval Office were Christian leaders and Obama talked about the importance of action finally being taken to enact immigration reform, according to the White House. “The faith leaders shared with the President stories about the impact the failure to fix the immigration system has on families in their congregations and communities,” the White House says. “The President expressed deep concern about the pain too many families feel from the separation that comes from our broken immigration system.”
The White House went on to say that Obama made a point of the fact that while his administration is able to try to better enforce immigration laws a permanent legislative reform can only be carried out by Congress. Both the religious leaders and the President expressed their commitment to immigration reform and pledged to carry on urging Congress to move on the issue.
Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary, told reporters later that the meeting shows and reinforces that the coalition that supports immigration reform is an unusually broad one and that this reform would benefit the United States in a number of ways, including businesses, the economy and national security.