Obama Says”Now Is The Time” Proposes Four Ways To Fix The Immigration System

President Barack Obama threw his full support behind a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws on Tuesday, saying “now’s the time” to replace a system he called “out of date and badly broken.”

Speaking at a majority Hispanic high school in Las Vegas, Obama said “a broad consensus is emerging” behind the issue across the country, with signs of progress in Congress.

However, he acknowledged a fierce debate ahead on an issue he described as emotional and challenging, but vital to economic growth and ensuring equal opportunity for all.

“At this moment, it looks like there’s a genuine desire to get this done soon. And that’s very encouraging,” Obama said, later adding: “This time, action must follow. We can’t allow immigration reform to get bogged down in an endless debate.”

The president spoke a day after eight senators — four from each party — introduced a framework for overhauling the immigration system that would provide an eventual path to citizenship for most of the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in America and cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers

While touted as a breakthrough by its drafters, the plan was similar in many aspects to previous immigration reform efforts that have failed in recent years.

Obama described the blueprint as a sign of renewed desire by Democrats and Republicans to tackle the issue, saying the plan was “very much in line with the principles I’ve proposed and campaigned on for the last few years.”

The president, in his speech, specified four pillars of immigration reform: better enforcement of immigration laws, providing a path to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country, and reforming the legal immigration system.

To earn the opportunity for citizenship, Obama said undocumented immigrants must first pass a background check, learn English, pay a penalty, and then get “in the back of the line” behind people trying to come to America legally.

The proposal is structured around four major points:

1. Strengthening border security
2. Cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers
3. Providing a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented workers currently living in the U.S. 
4. Streamlining the legal immigration system

Good luck Mr President.

See video of speech below: