Why Didn’t Obama Present Immigration Reform in His First Term? Rahm Emanuel Answers

Jorge Ramos spoke to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel about immigration reform during a Wednesday interview on “AMERICA with Jorge Ramos.”

Here’s part of their exchange:

JR: “So what happened that first year? Why didn’t he present immigration reform as he had promised? You were there.”

RE: “As you know, Jorge, the fact is in his first year, he had a massive economy recession that was going into a depression. That was his first attention. That is what he focused on number one. And he made clear that he was going to focus on dealing with the recession and it wasn’t just passing a stimulus bill. It was getting the auto industry moving, which, as you knew, took a great deal of time. He also pledged he was going to get our troops out of Iraq. That was the plan he put in place in the first six months. He also pledged to pass major financial overhaul of the financial sector, he also got that done in the first 18 months of the administration.”