What was Obama's immigration reform about?

His actions on immigration aimed to shield millions of immigrants, but were eventually blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court. With a Republican-controlled Congress, legislation appears out of reach. So the administration is taking a new approach by expanding its assistance to Central American migrants, seeming to acknowledge years of frustration and failed attempts at reforming America’s immigration policy.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced a plan, in conjunction with the United Nations, to identify people from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala who are eligible for refugee status. “We can both maintain the highest security standards and live up to our best traditions as Americans by welcoming those in need of help to our great country,” Kerry said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

Obama Said: "What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal that all of us are created equal, all of us have a chance to make of our lives what we will. And every study shows that whether it was the Irish or the Poles, or the Germans, or the Italians, or the Chinese, or the Japanese, or the Mexicans, or the Kenyans -- whoever showed up, over time, by a second generation, third generation, those kids are Americans.

They do look like us -- because we don't look one way. We don't all have the same last names, but we all share a creed and we all share a commitment to the values that founded this nation. That's who we are. And that is what I believe most Americans recognize."