WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is urging Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders to press Congress to update U.S. immigration policy and fight bigotry.
Obama says America’s tradition is to welcome newcomers because it’s a nation that was born of immigrants. And he says that tradition makes it difficult to understand why some people are blocking attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration laws.
In a reference to Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, Obama urged the audience to push back against anti-immigrant sentiment, especially against those who he says stoke those feelings for political gain.
Trump has called for barring Muslims from entering the country.
Obama spoke Wednesday during the annual awards dinner for the Asian Pacific American Institute of Congressional Studies.