President Barack Obama is telling Hispanic leaders that as long as he is president, he "will not give up the fight" to reform immigration laws.
The president says the nation needs a comprehensive immigration solution yet his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, has opposed a measure that would have created a path to citizenship for some children of illegal immigrants.
Obama says Romney has "promised to veto the DREAM Act and we should take him at his word."
Obama went on to say when he was a senator he joined with Republicans - including President Bush - in trying to pass the DREAM Act, but now the GOP is different. "The bill hadn't changed. The need hadn't changed, the only thing that had changed was politics."
Obama was speaking to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials near Orlando.
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio says Latino voters care about more than one issue. "One of the things that frustrates me sometimes is that when people speak to Hispanics and Latinos, they only want to talk about immigration."
Rubio told the same conference Thursday he's tried to pass meaningful immigration reform, but elements in both parties have stopped him. He also criticized the president's appearance as an election year stunt. "I was tempted to tell you 'hey, he hasn't been here in three years.' Oh what a coincidence; it's an election year. I was tempted to say 'why didn't he make this issue a priority?' I was ahhh, I guess I just did tell you."
President Obama won two-thirds of the Hispanic vote in 2008. His campaign hopes to do even better this year.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
