Obama’s Cinco De Mayo Immigration Message

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle hosted the annual Cinco de Mayo reception at the White House Thursday evening.

Things first started out lighthearted, with the president joking about Michelle’s favorite type of food: Mexican. “You do not want to get between Michelle and a tamale,” Obama said, to a roar of laughter.

But all joking aside, the president told the crowd of immigration reform advocates gathered at the White House Thursday that the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo is a good time for Mexicans and Americans to realize we share more than a border.

Obama said both countries have a vested interest in fixing immigration reform and a fixed system would improve border security and meet the needs of a changing economy, along with meeting a deeper need.

“We’re the heirs to mothers and fathers and grandparents and great-grandparents who struggled and sacrificed to forge and realize the American Dream,” Obama said. “And that fills us with the collective responsibility to leave an even bigger and bolder, more generous and more compassionate nation for our children.”

Obama said it will take changing minds, hearts and votes to fix a broken immigration system. He also told celebrants at a Cinco de Mayo reception at the White House that their help will be needed to make it happen.

Obama recently embarked on a new push to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, despite little enthusiasm for it on Capitol Hill. He has held several meetings in recent weeks with advocates and elected officials, including members of Congress.

But Obama also has asked those he has met with to help win the bipartisan support it would take to get a bill he could sign.