Obama, Romney tangle over immigration in second debate in Hempstead, NY

HEMPSTEAD, NY - President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are clashing over immigration, with Romney accusing Obama of failing to reform the immigration system during his first term.

Romney says during the second presidential debate that the nation needs to stop illegal immigration, noting that 4 million people are trying to gain American citizenship legally. He says he won't grant amnesty to people who come to the U.S. illegally.

Obama says Romney has opposed the DREAM Act, a failed bill that would have provided a path to legal status for many young illegal immigrants.

He says Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to support comprehensive immigration reform and won't in the future with Romney as the "standard-bearer" of his party.

When discussing Arizona's controversial immigration law SB 1070, President Obama said that Romney called the Arizona immigration law “a model" for the nation.

Romney fought back saying "Let me go back and speak to the points that the president made and let's get them correct. I did not say that the Arizona law was a model for the nation in that aspect. I said the e-verify portion of the Arizona law - which is the portion of the law which says that employers could be able to determine whether someone is here illegally or not illegally that that was a model for the nation."