(applause)

And it is good to be among so many good friends.

Let me start off by thanking everybody at Del Sol High School

for hosting us.

(applause)

Go Dragons!

Let me especially thank your outstanding principal,

Lisa Primas.

(applause)

There are all kinds of notable guests here,

but I just want to mention a few.

First of all, our outstanding Secretary of the Department of

Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, is here.

(applause)

Our wonderful Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar.

(applause)

Former Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis.

(applause)

Two of the outstanding members of the congressional delegation

from Nevada, Steve Horsford and Dina Titus.

(applause)

Your own mayor, Carolyn Goodman.

(applause)

But we also have some mayors that flew in because they know

how important the issue we're going to talk about today is.

Marie Lopez Rogers from Avondale, Arizona.

(applause)

Kasim Reed from Atlanta, Georgia.

(applause)

Greg Stanton from Phoenix, Arizona.

(applause)

And Ashley Swearengin from Fresno, California.

(applause)

And all of you are here, as well as some of the top labor leaders

in the country.

And we are just so grateful.

Some outstanding business leaders are here as well.

And of course, we've got wonderful students here,

so I could not be prouder of our students.

(applause)

Now, those of you have a seat, feel free to take a seat.

I don't mind.

Audience Member: I love you, Mr. President!

The President: I love you back.

(applause)

Now, last week, I had the honor of being sworn in for a second

term as President of the United States.

(applause)

And during my inaugural address, I talked about how making

progress on the defining challenges of our time doesn't

require us to settle every debate or ignore every

difference that we may have, but it does require us to find

common ground and move forward in common purpose.

It requires us to act.

I know that some issues will be harder to lift than others.

Some debates will be more contentious.

That's to be expected.

But the reason I came here today is because of a challenge where

the differences are dwindling; where a broad consensus is

emerging; and where a call for action can now be heard coming

from all across America.

I'm here today because the time has come for common-sense,

comprehensive immigration reform.

(applause)

The time is now.

(applause)

Now is the time.

(applause)

Now is the time.

(applause)

Now is the time.

Audience: (chanting) Sí se puede!

The President: Now is the time.

Audience: (chanting) Sí se puede!

The President: I'm here because most Americans agree that it's time to fix a

system that's been broken for way too long.

I'm here because business leaders, faith leaders,

labor leaders, law enforcement, and leaders from both parties

are coming together to say now is the time to find a better way

to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America

as the land of opportunity.

Now is the time to do this so we can strengthen our economy and

strengthen our country's future.

Think about it -- we define ourselves as a nation

of immigrants.

That's who we are -- in our bones.

The promise we see in those who come here from every corner of

the globe, that's always been one of our greatest strengths.

It keeps our workforce young.

It keeps our country on the cutting edge.

And it's helped build the greatest economic engine the

world has ever known.

After all, immigrants helped start businesses like Google

and Yahoo!.

They created entire new industries that, in turn,

created new jobs and new prosperity for our citizens.

In recent years, one in four high-tech startups in America

were founded by immigrants.

One in four new small business owners were immigrants,

including right here in Nevada --

folks who came here seeking opportunity and now want to

share that opportunity with other Americans.

But we all know that today, we have an immigration system

that's out of date and badly broken;

a system that's holding us back instead of helping us grow our

economy and strengthen our middle class.

Right now, we have 11 million undocumented immigrants in

America; 11 million men and women from all over the world

who live their lives in the shadows.

Yes, they broke the rules.

They crossed the border illegally.

Maybe they overstayed their visas.

Those are facts.

Nobody disputes them.

But these 11 million men and women are now here.

Many of them have been here for years.

And the overwhelming majority of these individuals aren't looking

for any trouble.

They're contributing members of the community.

They're looking out for their families.

They're looking out for their neighbors.

They're woven into the fabric of our lives.

Every day, like the rest of us, they go out and try to earn

a living.

Often they do that in a shadow economy --

a place where employers may offer them less than the minimum

wage or make them work overtime without extra pay.

And when that happens, it's not just bad for them,

it's bad for the entire economy.

Because all the businesses that are trying to do the right thing

-- that are hiring people legally, paying a decent wage,

following the rules -- they're the ones who suffer.

They've got to compete against companies that are

breaking the rules.

And the wages and working conditions of American workers

are threatened, too.

So if we're truly committed to strengthening our middle class

and providing more ladders of opportunity to those who are

willing to work hard to make it into the middle class,

we've got to fix the system.

We have to make sure that every business and every worker in

America is playing by the same set of rules.

We have to bring this shadow economy into the light so that

everybody is held accountable -- businesses for who they hire,

and immigrants for getting on the right side of the law.

That's common sense.

And that's why we need comprehensive

immigration reform.

(applause)

There's another economic reason why we need reform.

It's not just about the folks who come here illegally and have

the effect they have on our economy.

It's also about the folks who try to come here legally but

have a hard time doing so, and the effect that has on

our economy.

Right now, there are brilliant students from all over the world

sitting in classrooms at our top universities.

They're earning degrees in the fields of the future,

like engineering and computer science.

But once they finish school, once they earn that diploma,

there's a good chance they'll have to leave our country.

Think about that.

Intel was started with the help of an immigrant who studied here

and then stayed here.

Instagram was started with the help of an immigrant who studied

here and then stayed here.

Right now in one of those classrooms,

there's a student wrestling with how to turn their big idea --

their Intel or Instagram -- into a big business.

We're giving them all the skills they need to figure that out,

but then we're going to turn around and tell them to start

that business and create those jobs in China or India or Mexico

or someplace else?

That's not how you grow new industries in America.

That's how you give new industries to our competitors.

That's why we need comprehensive immigration reform.

(applause)

Now, during my first term, we took steps to try and patch up

some of the worst cracks in the system.

First, we strengthened security at the borders so that we could

finally stem the tide of illegal immigrants.

We put more boots on the ground on the southern border than at

any time in our history.

And today, illegal crossings are down nearly 80% from their peak

in 2000.

(applause)

Second, we focused our enforcement efforts on criminals

who are here illegally and who endanger our communities.

And today, deportations of criminals is at its highest

level ever.

(applause)

And third, we took up the cause of the DREAMers --

the young people who were brought to this country

as children.

(applause)

Young people who have grown up here,

built their lives here, have futures here.

We said that if you're able to meet some basic criteria like

pursuing an education, then we'll consider offering you the

chance to come out of the shadows so that you can live

here and work here legally, so that you can finally have the

dignity of knowing you belong.

But because this change isn't permanent,

we need Congress to act -- and not just on the DREAM Act.

We need Congress to act on a comprehensive approach that

finally deals with the 11 million undocumented immigrants

who are in the country right now.

That's what we need.

(applause)

Now, the good news is that for the first time in many years,

Republicans and Democrats seem ready to tackle this

problem together.

(applause)

Members of both parties, in both chambers,

are actively working on a solution.

Yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators announced their

principles for comprehensive immigration reform,

which are very much in line with the principles I've proposed and

campaigned on for the last few years.

So at this moment, it looks like there's a genuine desire to get

this done soon, and that's very encouraging.

But this time, action must follow.

We can't allow immigration reform to get bogged down in an

endless debate.

We've been debating this a very long time.

So it's not as if we don't know technically what needs

to get done.

As a consequence, to help move this process along,

today I'm laying out my ideas for immigration reform.

And my hope is that this provides some key markers to

members of Congress as they craft a bill,

because the ideas I'm proposing have traditionally been

supported by both Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Republicans like

President George W. Bush.

You don't get that match up very often.

(laughter)

So we know where the consensus should be.

Now, of course, there will be rigorous debate about many of

the details, and every stakeholder should engage in

real give and take in the process.

But it's important for us to recognize that the foundation

for bipartisan action is already in place.

And if Congress is unable to move forward in a timely

fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist

that they vote on it right away.

(applause)

So the principles are pretty straightforward.

There are a lot of details behind it.

We're going to hand out a bunch of paper so that everybody will