Obama coming to Las Vegas to discuss immigration reform

By Amber Phillips

Published Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 | 7:21 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 | 11:51 a.m.

President Barack Obama is coming to Las Vegas on Friday to shore up support for action he's taking without Congress to reform the nation's immigration system.

The White House confirmed today that the president will be at Del Sol High School to explain why he’s taking executive action to defer deportations for up to 5 million immigrants in the country illegally.

He is also expected to extend visas for highly skilled workers and include plans to strengthen the U.S.-Mexico border. Obama will announce his plans in a prime time TV address that will also be streaming online at 5 p.m. PST Thursday.

His trip on Friday to Del Sol High School will serve as a rally for his reforms, which are unpopular with the new Republican Congress.

“Our immigration system has been broken for decades — and every minute we fail to act, millions of people who live in the shadows but want to play by the rules and pay taxes have no way to live right by the law and contribute to our country,” wrote White House spokesperson Josh Earnest in a blog post today.

Sen. Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat and Senate leader since 2007, praised Obama's decision to move forward without Congress. He spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday and issued a statement on Obama's visit to Las Vegas, which will also feature Reid.

"This is personal to me,” Reid said in a statement. “There is no issue I have worked on more in my time as Democratic leader than immigration reform."

All week, Reid has reiterated his belief the president has the constitutional authority to take action. Republicans, however, say such executive action would be overstepping Obama's bounds and could make working with the new Republican Congress more difficult.​

Nevada is an important swing state with about a third of the population Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census Data. Those voters could be key for 2016 presidential contenders and Reid's own reelection campaign, but many hoping for a change in the nation's immigration reform policy are disenfranchised by both Congress' and President Obama's inaction. Immigration reform passed last year in the Senate but has been stalled in the Republican-controlled House. Obama said this summer he would act on his own, but he controversially delayed any action until after the November elections.

President Obama has been to Las Vegas before to speak about immigration reform. He visited Del Sol High School in January 2013 to lay out a plan.

Nevada has the highest percentage of illegal immigrants in its public school system of any other state, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

Nevada is also run by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who is the first Hispanic elected to statewide office in the state.