By Laura DeKoven Waxman
April 25, 2011

President Barack Obama and members of his Cabinet and senior staff met with a broad group of business, law enforcement, faith, and current and former elected leaders on April 19 to discuss fixing the nation's broken immigration system. Included in the meeting were New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

According to a White House report, the President expressed disappointment that Congressional action on immigration reform has stalled and that the DREAM Act failed to pass in the U.S. Senate after passing with a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House in December. He also said that Congressional action is needed to fix the broken immigration system. No members of Congress were included in the meeting.

That same report said that local law enforcement officers expressed concern that without reform, enforcing federal immigration laws is a distraction from their important public safety and crime fighting mandates to keep their local communities safe.