WASHINGTON (AFP) — The White House has contacted Democratic and Republican legislators to hold a June 8 meeting that would open the debate on immigration reform, an administration source told AFP on Wednesday.
"The idea is to start a dialogue on immigration policy, to have more substantive debates later in the year," the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The first meeting will be headed by President Barack Obama, though the source said it was unlikely that a detailed immigration reform plan would be announced.
Obama promised US legislators in the Hispanic Caucus on May 18 that immigration reform would be launched this year.
Attempts to overhaul US immigration laws failed in the US Congress in 2006 and again in 2007.
Some 12 million undocumented migrants live in the United States, the majority of them of Hispanic origin.
Obama has publicly said he opposes amnesty for illegal aliens, but favors a system for them to obtain residency or citizenship.
When he was a senator, Obama voted in favor of immigration reform as well as in favor of reinforcing the US border with Mexico.
Immigration reform was one of Obama's main attractions for the ten million US Hispanic voters. Sixty-six percent of them voted for him during the November presidential election.
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