During a town hall style event in Nashville to discuss Obamacare, President Obama referred to some illegal immigrants as “gang-bangers,” adding they should be deported.
Obama made his remarks after he was asked if he would expand Obamacare benefits to illegal immigrants.
“We should not be encouraging illegal immigration,” he remarked to the group. “What we should be doing is setting up a smart legal immigration system that doesn’t separate families but does focus on making sure that people who are dangerous, people who are, you know, gang-bangers, who are criminals that we’re deporting as quickly as possible.”
Obama boasted that “we’ve made improvements on all those fronts,” but blamed House Republicans for failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
During his conversation, he pointed out that some illegal immigrants are contributing to society and families need a pathway to legalization.
He referred to his executive actions on immigration reform as one way he was handling the issue in the meantime while he’s waiting for Congress to act.
“I suspect this will be a topic of conversation during the upcoming presidential campaign,” he said.