LAKE BUENA VISTA,
Fla. (AP) -- Appealing to Hispanic voters, President Barack Obama
on Friday defended his decision to lift the threat of deportation for
hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, saying it gave them an
overdue "sense of hope."
He challenged Republicans in Congress to join
him finally on a big, broad fix of the U.S. immigration laws.
Obama
tailored his re-election message of economic fairness and opportunity
to his audience of Latino officials, addressing the group one day after
Republican rival Mitt Romney did the same.
Hispanic voters are a vital
constituency in states that could swing the election, from Florida to
Nevada to Virginia.
The president said the
nation needs ideas and policies that build up the middle class and "our
current immigration system doesn't reflect those values."
The system
punishes immigrants who play by the rules and drives away entrepreneurs
who can get an education in America but cannot stay here legally, he
said.
Obama spoke to the National Association
of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials near Orlando, his first speech
to a Hispanic group since he decreed that many young illegal immigrants
brought to the United States as children would be exempted from
deportation and granted work permits valid for two years.
"It was the right thing to do," Obama declared.
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