Obama meetings focus on immigration reform

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama's meetings with two groups Tuesday were to focus on getting a bipartisan immigration reform bill passed this year, the White House said.

Obama was to meet with 16 progressive and labor leaders in a West Wing meeting room at 11 a.m. and with 12 business leaders in the same Roosevelt Room, near the Oval Office, at 3:20 p.m., the White House said.

Expected attendees at the morning meeting were to include AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, United Farm Workers of America President Arturo Rodriguez, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, National Council of La Raza President Janet Murguia, and leaders of other progressive and immigration groups including the Center for American Progress, the National Immigration Law Center, Immigration Equality and United We Dream.

Expected attendees at the afternoon meeting were to include chief executive officers including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Lloyd Blankfein, Yahoo! Inc.'s Marissa Mayer, Coca-Cola Co.'s Muhtar Kent, Alcoa Inc.'s Klaus Kleinfeld, Marriott International Inc.'s Arne Sorenson and Motorola Solutions Inc.'s Greg Brown.

The meetings will let Obama "continue his dialogue with outside leaders on a number of issues -- including immigration reform and how it fits into his broader economic agenda, and his efforts to achieve balanced deficit reduction," the White House said in a statement Monday.

Obama has said he wants a bipartisan immigration reform bill passed this year.

The meetings come a day after Obama pushed his administration's gun control proposals on the road in Minneapolis, standing alongside dozens of uniformed police officers as he defended mandatory background checks for all gun buyers.

Several administration officials are expected to meet with other law enforcement representatives Wednesday, CNN said.