The president’s remarks came with the country embroiled in a tense debate over how to stanch an influx of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America, among them thousands of minors, who have flooded across the border into the US in recent months.
“Throughout our history, immigrants have come to our shores in wave after wave, from every corner of the globe. Every one of us –- unless we’re Native American –- has an ancestor who was born somewhere else,” Obama said.
“That’s what makes America special. That’s what makes us strong. The basic idea of welcoming immigrants to our shores is central to our way of life, it is in our DNA,” the president said.
And he used the event to plug his support for immigration reform, long stalled in the US Congress.
“We believe our diversity, our differences, when joined together by a common set of ideals, makes us stronger, makes us more creative, makes us different,” Obama said.
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