(Applause.) You got great food. You got great people, beautiful scenery -- no more super

villains because Batkid cleaned up the streets. (Applause.) Love Batkid. (Laughter.)

I want to start by thanking Geetha for the wonderful introduction and the great work

that she's doing. Give her a big round of applause. (Applause.) I want to thank your

Mayor, Ed Lee. (Applause.) Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. (Applause.) I want to recognize

some wonderful members of Congress who are fighting every day for the people of California

-- Mike Honda -- (applause) -- Eric Swalwell, Judy Chu. They are all doing great work every

single day. (Applause.)

We have a special guest, Janet Napolitano, who is now overseeing the entire UC system

and going to be doing a great job. (Applause.) We miss her back in Washington, but she is

going to be outstanding leading the University of California.

Now, before I begin, I want to say a few words about the news from the weekend. I'm here

to talk about immigration reform, but I'm also here in my capacity as Commander-in-Chief,

and this weekend, together with our allies and our partners, the United States reached

an agreement with Iran -- (applause) -- on a first step towards resolving our concerns

over its nuclear program.

Now, some of you may recall that when I first ran for President, I said it was time for

a new era of American leadership in the world -- one that turned the page on a decade of

war, and began a new era of our engagement with the world. And as President and as Commander-in-Chief,

I've done what I said. We ended the war in Iraq; we brought our troops home. Osama bin

Laden met justice; the war in Afghanistan will end next year.

And as the strongest, most powerful nation on the face of the Earth, we've engaged in

clear-eyed and principled diplomacy -- even with our adversaries -- in order to begin

to destroy Syria's chemical weapons and to place the first real constraints in a decade

on Iran's nuclear program. Because I firmly believe in what President Kennedy once said:

He said, "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." I believe

that. And this diplomacy, backed by the unprecedented sanctions we brought on Iran, has brought

us the progress that was achieved this weekend.

For the first time in a decade, we've halted the progress on Iran's nuclear program. Key

parts of the program will be rolled back. (Applause.) International inspectors will

have unprecedented access to Iran's nuclear-related facilities. So this will help Iran from building

a nuclear weapon. And over the coming months, we're going to continue our diplomacy, with

the goal of achieving a comprehensive solution that deals with the threat of Iran's nuclear

program once and for all.

And if Iran seizes this opportunity and chooses to join the global community, then we can

begin to chip away at the mistrust that's existed for many, many years between our two

nations.

None of that is going to be easy. Huge challenges remain. But we cannot close the door on diplomacy.

And we cannot rule out peaceful solutions to the world's problems. We cannot commit

ourselves to an endless cycle of conflict. And tough talk and bluster may be the easy

thing to do politically, but it's not the right thing for our security. It is not the

right thing for our security. (Applause.)

Now, this progress, and the potential it offers, reminds us of what is possible when the United

States has the courage to lead -- not just with the force of arms, but with the strength

of our diplomacy and our commitment to peace. That's what keeps us strong. That's what makes

us a beacon to the world. That's how I'll continue to lead so long as I'm President

of the United States.

And that spirit -- not just what we can criticize or tear down or be against, but what we can

build together -- that's what brings me here today. Because it's long past time to fix

our broken immigration system. (Applause.) We need to make sure Washington finishes what

so many Americans just like you started. We've got to finish the job.

And it's fitting that we're here in Chinatown, just a few miles away from Angel Island. In

the early 1900s, about 300,000 people -- maybe some of your ancestors -- passed through on

their way to a new life in America. And for many, it represented the end of a long and

arduous journey -- they'd finally arrived in a place where they believed anything was

possible.

And for some, it also represented the beginning of a new struggle against prejudice in a country

that didn't always treat its immigrants fairly or afford them the same rights as everybody

else. Obviously, Asians faced this, but so did the Irish; so did Italians; so did Jews;

and many groups still do today.

That didn't stop those brave men and women from coming. They were drawn by a belief in

the power of opportunity; in a belief that says, maybe I never had a chance at a good

education, but this is a place where my daughter can go to college. Maybe I started out washing

dishes, but this is a place where my son can become mayor of San Francisco. (Applause.)

Maybe I have to make sacrifices today, but those sacrifices are worth it if it means

a better life for my family.

And that's a family story that will be shared by millions of Americans around the table

on Thursday. It's the story that drew my great-great-great-great-grandfather from a small village in Ireland, and drew

my father from a small village in Kenya. It's the story that drew so many of your ancestors

here -- that America is a place where you can make it if you try.

And here's something interesting: Today, more than one in four residents born outside the

United States came here from Asian countries -- many through our family immigration system.

They're doctors and business owners, laborers, refugees. This rec center's namesake, Betty

Ong, was a hero on 9/11. (Applause.) But she was also the daughter of immigrants who grew

up not far from here. And we're honored to have her family with us here today. (Applause.)

But too often when we talk about immigration, the debate focuses on our southern border.

The fact is we're blessed with immigrants from all over the world who've put down roots

in every corner of this country. Here in San Francisco, 35 percent of business owners are

immigrants -- and your economy is among the fastest growing in the country. That's not

an accident. That's the impact that our talented, hardworking immigrants can have. That's the

difference they can make. They're hungry and they're striving and they're working hard

and they're creating things that weren't there before.

And that's why it is long past time to reform an immigration system that right now doesn't

serve America as well as it should. We could be doing so much more to unleash our potential

if we just fix this aspect of our system.

And I know out here in California that you watch the news and you share the country's

not very sunny view of Washington these days. For the last few months, you've seen a lot

of headlines about gridlock and partisan bickering, and too often one faction of one party in

one house of Congress has chosen courses of action that ended up harming our businesses,

or our economy, or our workers. Or they want to refight old political battles rather than

create jobs and grow the economy and strengthen the middle class, or take 40 more votes to

undermine or repeal the Affordable Care Act -- (laughter) -- instead of passing a single

serious jobs bill, despite the fact that Americans want us to focus on jobs and business and

growth. And, by the way, thousands of Californians are signing up every day for new health care

plans all across this state. (Applause.)

So even as we're getting this darn website up to speed -- (laughter) -- and it's getting

better -- states like California are proving the law works. People want the financial security

of health insurance.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thanks to you!

THE PRESIDENT: And even if you're already insured, reach out to a friend or neighbor

who's not and help them get covered.

But when it comes to immigration reform, we have to have the confidence to believe we

can get this done. And we should get it done. And, by the way, most Americans agree. The

only thing standing in our way right now is the unwillingness of certain Republicans in

Congress to catch up with the rest of the country.

I met the other day with the CEOs of some of America's biggest companies. And I'm positive

not all of them voted for me. (Laughter.) I'm pretty sure. (Laughter.) Maybe some of

them, but definitely not all of them. But the thing they wanted to talk about, their

top priority was the fact that we invite the brightest minds from around the world to study

here -- many of them enrolled in the University of California system -- and then we don't

invite them to stay. We end up sending them home to create new jobs and start new businesses

someplace else. So we're training our own competition, rather than invite those incredibly

talented young people, like Geetha, to stay here and start businesses and create jobs

here.

I hear from folks who've been separated from their families for years because of green

card backlogs who desperately want their loved ones to be able to join them here in America.

I hear from young DREAMers who are Americans through and through in every way but on paper,

and they just want a chance to study and serve and contribute to the nation that they love.

(Applause.)

I talk to business owners who play by the rules, but get frustrated because they end

up being undercut by those who exploit workers in a shadow economy -- aren't getting paid

overtime, aren't required to meet the same obligations. And so those companies end up

losing out on business.

Right now, I'm seeing brave advocates who have been fasting for two weeks in the shadow

of the Capitol, sacrificing themselves in an effort to get Congress to act. And I want

to say to Eliseo Medina, my friend from SEIU, and the other fasters who are there as we

speak, I want them to know we hear you. We're with you. The whole country hears you.

And there are plenty of leaders --- Democrat and Republican --- who don't think it's fair

that we've got 11 million people in this country, including more than a million from Asia, with

no real way to come forward and get on the right side of the law. It's not smart. It's

not fair. It doesn't make sense. And we have kicked this particular can down the road long

enough. Everybody knows it.

Now, the good news is we know what the solutions are. There is bipartisan hope of getting it

done. This year, the Senate passed an immigration reform bill by a wide, bipartisan majority,

and it addresses the key issues that need to be addressed. It would strengthen our borders.

It would level the playing field by holding employers accountable if they knowingly hire

undocumented workers. It would modernize our legal immigration system so that we eliminate

the backlog of family visas and make it easier to attract highly skilled entrepreneurs from

beyond our borders. It would make sure that everybody plays by the same rules by providing

a pathway to earned citizenship for those who are living in the shadows --- a path that

includes passing a background check, and learning English, and paying taxes and a penalty, and

getting in line behind everyone trying to come here the right way.

And each of these pieces would go a long way towards fixing our broken immigration system.

Each of them has been supported by Democrats and Republicans in the past. There's no reason

we can't come together and get it done.

And what's more, we know the immigration reform that we're proposing would boost our economy

and shrink our deficits. Independent economists have said that if the Senate bill became law,

over the next two decades, our economy would grow by $1.4 trillion more, and it would reduce

our deficits by $850 billion more.

And you don't have to be an economist to figure out that workers will be more productive if

they've got their families here with them, they're not worried about deportation, they're

not living halfway around the world. This isn't just the right thing to do --- it's

the smart thing to do.

Of course, just because something is smart, fair, good for the economy, and supported

by business, labor, law enforcement and faith leaders -- (laughter) -- Democratic and Republican

governors, including the Governor of this state --- just because all that is in place

doesn't mean we'll actually get it done, because this is Washington, after all, that we're

talking about and everything is looked through a political prism. And, look, let's be honest,

some folks automatically think, well, if Obama's for it, then I've got to be against it even

if I was, before that, I was for it.

But I want to remind everybody, to his great credit, my Republican predecessor, President

Bush, was for reform. He proposed reform like this almost a decade ago. I was in the Senate.

I joined 23 Senate Republicans back then supporting reform. It's worth remembering that the Senate

bill that just passed won more than a dozen Republican votes this past summer. And some

of them even forget that I'm -- sometimes people forget I'm not running for office again.

Michelle doesn't forget. (Laughter and applause.) So you don't have to worry about this somehow

being good for me. This is good for the country. It's the right thing to do for the American

people.

And I believe, ultimately -- not always in the short term -- but ultimately, good policy

is good politics. Look at the polls right now, because the American people support immigration

reform by a clear majority. Everybody wins if we get this done. So there's no reason

we shouldn't get immigration reform done right now. None. If there is a good reason I haven't

heard it.

And, by the way, if there's a better plan out there than the one that Democrats and

Republicans have already advanced together, if there are additional ideas that would make

it even better, I'm always willing to listen to new ideas. My door is always open. But

right now it's up to Republicans in the House to decide if we can move forward as a country