A bipartisan group of US senators is very close to reaching a deal on immigration reform and a bill could be introduced in Congress within days, sources said. The reform, a key focus of President Barack Obama's second term, could contain a long-term path to citizenship for the country's more than 11 million illegal immigrants, as well as an expansion of quotas of foreign workers and tighter border security. "We are optimistic that we will be able to introduce legislation soon," a Senate aide told AFP.

US President Barack Obama said Thursday he was more upbeat about the prospects of immigration reform making it through Congress than tougher gun control legislation. "I am very optimistic that we get immigration reform done in the next few months," Obama told Democratic donors at an event in Atherton, California, a Silicon Valley town south of San Francisco. "And the reason I'm optimistic is because people spoke out through the ballot box, and that's breaking gridlock," added Obama, who seized 70 percent of the country's Latino vote when he was re-elected last November.

US President Barack Obama said Monday the time has come to reform America's "broken" immigration policy, renewing his appeal to lawmakers to clinch a deal that he said is now within reach. At a swearing-in ceremony at the White House for a group of new US citizens, Obama praised a bipartisan push in Congress for immigration reform, but prodded both parties to finish the job. "We've known for years our immigration system is broken, that we're not doing enough to harness the talent and ingenuity of those that want to work hard and find a place here in America," Obama said.

(Recasts, adds details from talk shows, White House response) By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The White House is drafting a backup immigration reform plan in case a bipartisan congressional committee working on a bill fails, an Obama Administration official said on Sunday, though a key Republican said the president's plan would be "dead on arrival" on Capitol Hill.