Obama seeks Hispanic celebrities' support

President Barack Obama enlisted Hispanic celebrities, including actresses Eva Longoria, America Ferrera and Rosario Dawson, yesterday to help push plans to overhaul U.S. immigration laws.

The president listed a revamp of the immigration system as one of his top agenda issues Wednesday night at fundraisers in New York.

He followed up on those remarks Thursday in a meeting with "influential Hispanics," as the White House described them, in the media and entertainment industries.

Afterward, Longoria told reporters that an overhaul of U.S. immigration law is such a "hot-button" topic because "there's fear." If Americans knew that agriculture was supported by a predominantly Hispanic workforce and that Hispanics pay more taxes than some major U.S. corporations, the fear would dissipate, she said.

Longoria said much of the discussion concerned reintroducing the Dream Act, which would provide permanent U.S. residency to college graduates and military veterans who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.-- Bloomberg News