After Iran, Obama shifts to immigration reform

President Obama on Monday will call on Congress to pass “commonsense immigration reform,” according to a White House official.

Obama will speak Monday morning in San Francisco, urging House Republicans to take up the issue as soon as possible.

Obama will highlight key principles that must be a part of any bipartisan comprehensive effort, the official said, including continuing to strengthen border security, creating an earned path to citizenship, holding employers accountable and bringing our immigration system into the 21st century.

{mosads}The White House says immigration reform has strong, bipartisan support across the country.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday said that immigration reform “is going to happen.” The House majority whip, however, declined to lay out a timeline for a vote.

McCarthy insisted that the House would take immigration reform on a step-by-step basis, and noted that Obama said recently he was O.K. with that approach.

“We need to fix this system,” McCarthy said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) also said last week that immigration reform was far from dead.

Obama’s shift to immigration follows a historic deal over the weekend between the U.S. and five partners and Iran to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for limited sanctions relief.

“For the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear program, and key parts of the program will be rolled back,” Obama said in remarks from the White House after the agreement was announced.

Obama will also attend two events on Monday afternoon in San Francisco for the Democratic National Committee.

Monday evening, he’ll speak at events for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

–Justin Sink and Bernie Becker contributed to this report.