MICHELLE OBAMA TO LATINOS: WE CAN’T WAIT FOR CONGRESS TO FIX IMMIGRATION
“So make no mistake about it, we have to keep on fighting as hard as we can on immigration,” she said as the crowd cheered. “And as my husband has said, he’s going to do whatever administrative action it takes to fix this broken system.”
Obama reminded the attendees that they couldn’t wait for Congress to act on their future and urged them to seize opportunities on their own.
“We cannot afford to wait on Congress to lift up our next generation. We can’t afford to wait on anybody when it comes to our kids’ future,” she said. “Your grandparents and parents didn’t wait for opportunities to come to them. No, they packed up their families and moved to this country for a better life.”
The First Lady reminded them of the history of social injustices that Latinos suffered in America which inspired the founder of LULAC to start his organization in 1929.
“Back then, Latinos were being brutalized and killed by police and lynched by the KKK,” she said. “‘No Mexicans Allowed’ signs hung outside of restaurants and storefronts. Latinos often couldn’t own property or serve on a jury. And if you walked into a public building, you’d often see not two water fountains, but three — one white, one black, and one brown.”
