Obama teases immigration address

President Obama on Thursday teased his immigration address to the nation during an event honoring science and technology luminaries.

{mosads}When welcoming attendees to the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation award ceremony, Obama spoke about how one of the honorees had come to America on a research fellowship and was able to stay.

“Part of staying competitive in the global economy is making sure that we have an immigration system that doesn’t send away talent but attracts it. We want them to initiate new discoveries and start businesses right here in the United States,” he said.

“So that’s what I’ll be talking about a little bit tonight,” he added, to applause.

The comments come hours before Obama begins to lay out his plan to use an executive order on the immigration system. He will also speak about the order on Friday at a Las Vegas high school.

The order is expected to extend temporary legal status to some immigrants who have children who are U.S. citizens.

An expansion of the H1-B visa program, which helps highly skilled workers stay in the U.S., is also expected. The technology sector has long sought an expansion of the skilled-worker visa program to bolster their workforces.