Obama: Immigration reform unlikely soon

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday he doubts immigration reform will pass Congress before the midterm elections in November.

He also suggested he would not try to achieve reform through regulations or administrative actions, The Hill newspaper reported.

In an interview with Telemundo, Obama said, "You know, it is a very difficult thing to do administratively, and because we want comprehensive reform, and because we want the Dream Act, what we don't want to do is give an excuse to the opposition to say, 'Obama's trying to do an end-run around Congress,'" The Hill reported.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or Dream Act, would give illegal aliens who are graduates of U.S. high schools who arrived in the United States as minors -- and have good "moral character" -- the opportunity to obtain permanent U.S. residency.

The Hill said Obama has been criticized by the Hispanic community for failing to follow through on immigration reform. The Democratic president told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus last week he would not "walk away" from reform, and called on Republicans to help pass legislation, the newspaper said.

The Senate GOP said it would oppose including the Dream Act in the Defense Authorization bill, The Hill said.

The newspaper said Obama has pointed out some Republican senators favored comprehensive immigration reform under President George W. Bush, but now oppose similar legislation.