Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) addressed immigration reform at a National Press Club luncheon Monday. He called on Congress to pass legislation this year.
President Obama has promised to make immigration reform a top priority of his second term. Mayor Villaraigosa, a past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, has been featured on the cover of Newsweek, and in a Time story on the country's most influential Latinos.
Besides serving since 2005 as mayor of America’s second largest city, Villaraigosa filled the role of chairman of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which re-nominated President Obama.