Obama Says He’d Accept Piecemeal Immigration Reform

The president says he doesn't care what reform looks like, as long as it gets done.

By Aura Bogado Nov 20, 2013

In a change of course, President Obama said Tuesday that he would move forward on a piecemeal approach to immigration reform. During an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO meeting, the president remarked:

"If they want to chop that thing up into five pieces, as long as all five pieces get done, I don’t care what it looks like," Mr. Obama said. "What we don’t want to do is simply carve out one piece of it…but leave behind some of the tougher stuff that still needs to get done."

Obama has long touted one big comprehensive bill, and championed a Senate version passed in June, but the bill has essentially died in the House. Republicans have made clear, however, that there isn’t enough time left in the legislative year to deal with immigration.