Obama urges pressure on Congress to act on immigration

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he cannot reform U.S. immigration laws alone and pressure must be brought to bear on Congress to fix what he called a "broken" system.

Speaking at White House meeting of groups with an interest in the immigration debate, Obama said he would be deeply disappointed if federal action on immigration remains stalled in Congress.

"The only way to fix what's broken about our immigration system is through legislative action in Congress," Obama said, according to a summary of his remarks released by the White House.

The White House meeting included business, law enforcement, religious and political leaders from across the country. Among those invited included Mayors Michael Bloomberg of New York City and Julian Castro of San Antonio, Texas; Cargill Chief Executive Greg Page; Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey; Civil Rights activist Al Sharpton; and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Participants said the failure to act on immigration has led to a variety of problems including educating and then shipping overseas the best and brightest people, inability of business to hire and retain a legal workforce, a need to end the underground labor market, separation of families, and resources devoted to enforcing immigration laws, according to the White House statement.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110420/pl_nm/us_immigration_obama