The White House said the president was meeting Thursday with a group including actresses Eva Longoria, America Ferrera and Rosario Dawson "to discuss the importance of fixing the broken immigration system."

Obama wants to overhaul the nation's immigration system to provide a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. That's not likely to go anywhere anytime soon on Capitol Hill with Republicans controlling the House.

But with Latino voters an increasingly important force going into the 2012 election, Obama is determined to show engagement on the issue. Another participant Thursday is influential Los Angeles radio show host Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo, who's pushed Obama to work harder on immigration.