Obama Gives Speech About Immigration Reform
BALDWIN: Again, live pictures, El Paso, Texas. We are just about -- just in the 10-minute mark here for the president. He will be launching this big new campaign, his big push for immigration reform. The president is about to make a speech here, El Paso, Texas. And, of course, everywhere the president speaks has some sort of significance and purpose. This is no exception today. Keep in mind El Paso right across the border -- oh, the president is early. So, let's listen, President Obama.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, El Paso! Well, it is wonderful, wonderful to be back with all of you in the Lone Star State.</s>OBAMA: Everything is bigger in Texas.</s>OBAMA: I love you back!</s>OBAMA: Even the welcomes are bigger. So, in appreciation, I wanted to give a big policy speech outside on a really hot day.</s>OBAMA: Those of you who are still wearing your jackets, feel free to take them off. I hope everybody is wearing sunscreen. Now --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live here!</s>OBAMA: You say you live here. You don't need it, huh?</s>OBAMA: Well, it is a great honor to be here. And I want to express my appreciation to all of you for taking the time to come out today.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you.</s>OBAMA: Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.</s>OBAMA: You know, about a week ago, I delivered a commencement address at Miami-Dade Community College, which is one the most diverse schools in the nation. The graduates were proud that their class could claim heritage from 181 countries around the world, 181 countries.</s>OBAMA: Many -- many of the students were immigrants, themselves, coming to America with little more than the dream of their parents and the clothes on their back. A handful had discovered only in adolescence or adulthood that they were undocumented. But they worked hard and they gave it their all, and so they earned those diplomas. And at the ceremony, 181 flags -- one for every nation that was represented -- was marched across the stage. And each one was applauded by the graduates and the relatives with ties to those countries. So, when the Haitian flag went by, all the Haitian kids -- Haitian-American kids shouted out. And when the Guatemalan flag went by, all the kids of Guatemalan heritage shouted out. And when the Ukrainian flag went by, I think one kid shouted out.</s>OBAMA: This was down in Miami.</s>OBAMA: If it had been in Chicago, there would have been more.</s>OBAMA: But then the last flag, the American flag came into view. And every one in the room erupted in applause. Everybody cheered.</s>OBAMA: So, yes, their parents and grandparents -- some of the graduates themselves -- had come from every corner of the globe. But it was here that they had found opportunity. It was here that they had a chance to contribute to the nation that is their home. And it was a reminder of a simple idea as old as America itself, e pluribus unum, out of many, one. We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants -- a nation that welcomes those willing to embrace America's ideals and America's precepts. That's why millions of people, ancestors to most of us, braved hardship and great risk to come here -- so they could be free to work and worship and start a business and live their lives in peace and prosperity. The Asian immigrants who made their way to California's Angel Island, the German and Scandinavians who settled across the Midwest, the waves of Irish, and Italian, and Polish, and Russian, and Jewish immigrants who leaned against the railing to catch that first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, this flow of immigrants has helped make this country stronger and more prosperous.</s>OBAMA: We can point to the genius of Einstein, the designs of I.M. Pei, the stories of Isaac Asimov, the entire industries that were forged by Andrew Carnegie. And then, when I think about immigration, I think about the naturalization ceremonies that we've held at the White House for members of our military. Nothing could be more inspiring. Even though they were not yet citizens when they joined our military, these men and women signed up to serve. We did one event at the White House, and a young man named Granger Michael from Papua, New Guinea, a Marine who had been deployed to Iraq three times, was here. And you know what he said about becoming an American citizen? He said: "I might as well. I love this country already." That's all he said. Marines aren't big on speeches.</s>OBAMA: Another was a woman named Perla Ramos, who was born and raised in Mexico, and came to the United States shortly after 9/11, and joined the Navy. And she said: "I take pride in our flag and the history we write day by day." That's the promise of this country, that anyone can write the next chapter in our story. It doesn't matter where you come from; it doesn't matter.</s>OBAMA: It doesn't matter where you come from; it doesn't matter what you look like. It does not matter what faith you worship, What matters is that you believe in the ideals on which we were founded; that you believe that all of us are created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights --</s>OBAMA: -- that all of us deserve our freedoms and our pursuit of happiness. In embracing America, you can become American. And that is what makes this country great. That enriches all of us. And, yet, at the same time, we are here at the border today --</s>OBAMA: -- We're here at the border because we also recognize that being a nation of laws goes hand in hand with being a nation of immigrants. This, too, is our heritage. This, too, is important. And the truth is, we've often wrestled with the politics of who is and who isn't allowed to come into this country. This debate is not new. At times, there has been fear and resentment directed towards newcomers, especially in hard economic times. And because these issues touch deeply on what we believe, touch deeply on our convictions -- about who we are as a people, about what it means to be an American -- these debates often elicit strong emotions. That's one reason it's been so difficult to reform our broken immigration system. When an issue is this complex, when it raises such strong feelings, it's easier for politicians to defer the problem until the next election. And there's always a next election. So we have seen a lot of blame and a lot of politics and a lot of ugly rhetoric around immigration. And we've seen good faith efforts from leaders of both parties. By the way, I just noticed. Those of you who have chairs, if you want to sit down, feel free. There is no rule about having to stand when I'm -- yes.</s>CROWD: Yes, we can! Yes, we can!</s>OBAMA: The most important step we can do is to strengthen the borders so that fewer people have the incentive to enter illegally in search of work in the first place. This allows agents to focus on the worst threats on both sides of the borders from drug traffickers to those who would come here to commit acts of violence or terror. That is where the focus should be. So, El Paso, the question is whether those in Congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work that we have started.</s>BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And there you have it, the president speaking for just about half an hour there in El Paso, Texas, just across the border from Juarez, Mexico, talking about immigration, border control, talking about security, talking about living the American dream. Quickly I want to go to Gloria Borger. I do have one quick question for you. In terms of themes here, two themes I picked up -- one, that immigration is smart for our economy, and, two, our border has never been more secure. What did you make of that half hour?</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think the president made it very clear that he's doubled the number of border agents since 2004, that this is good for the court tree as you point out economically. And he also said, look, the political will in Washington has to be there. Brooke, there's a fight for Hispanic voters right now. The president is very popular with Hispanic voters, but he was a lot more popular in 2008.</s>BALDWIN: We'll talk about his popularity among Hispanic voters, and I'm going to ask you about some of the specifics he laid out in page six of eight of the speech here, and when he got the big boo. A lot more to come. Let's get a quick break in. We'll be right back.