Below are President Obama's immigration-related remarks from his 2012 State of the Union address:
Let's also remember that hundreds of thousands of talented, hardworking students in this country face another challenge: The fact that they aren't yet American citizens. Many were brought here as small children, are American through and through, yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else.
That doesn't make sense.
I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That's why my administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That's why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.
The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now.
Not so subtle job of covering for the illegal DREAMers. Of course they aren't American citizens – they're illegal aliens! They are not "American through and through," by definition.
And as for foreign students, it serves our national interest to have foreigners come to America to study, then to return home. They receive a great higher education, experience America firsthand, get to know Americans, and hopefully engender a positive experience and warmer regard for this nation and her people. They also gain knowledge and skills that improve their home country over their lifetimes, thus raising the standard of living there for their people and improving the prospects for their homeland as a U.S. trading partner. Such economic development on account of their American schooling reduces the likelihood of their nations being sources of illegal immigration.
The president also sought to claim credit for a more secure border. The main reasons he can try to assert "fewer illegal crossings" on his watch are that the administration's economic policies have further diminished our economy. The "jobs magnet" under Obama has been demagnetized somewhat by his misguided, job-killing policies. The rest of his speech reflected Obama's firm belief in class warfare and the destructive politics of economic envy. Then there's the fact this administration has aggressively forced our border forces to stand down, "turn back south" instead of detaining or arresting illegal foreign crossers. The fact is that border violence and smuggling continue apace.