As the surge of undocumented immigrant children continue to stream across the US-Mexico border, President Barack Obama has sounded another call for congress to enact legislation that will build what he calls a "fair, effective, and common sense" immigration system.

Obama spoke at a Fourth of July naturalization ceremony at the White House, where 25 members of the military, their spouses and veterans took their pledge of allegiance as United States citizens.

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The president indicated he would go ahead with executive measures to improve the immigration system, if congress delays action on his immigration bill.

He said he was "going to keep doing everything I can do to keep making our immigration system smarter and more efficient."  

Obama is pushing to repair a "broken" immigration system that will continue to strengthen border security, streamline legal immigration, allow undocumented aliens in the country to "earn" citizenship, and crack down on employers hiring undocumented workers.

Republicans had voiced their reservations about the president's immigration reform agenda, and blames it for the worsening influx of immigrant minors from Central American countries, among other issues.

More than 52,000 unaccompanied minors have illegally crossed the border since the start of the year, most of them from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, leading to jampacked government and private relief centers in Texas and in California.

Republicans are calling on Obama to visit the border and take a first-hand look at the US immigration crisis, during a planned visit to Texas next week, part of his fund-raising campaign for Democratic congressional candidates.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said it would be a "real reflection of his lack of concern" if Obama doesn't visit the crowded temporary holding centers in the state, or the tired Border Patrol teams trying to maintain order along the border.

The White House says Obama has no plans of travelling to the border outposts at this time. 

TagsBarack Obama, Gov. Rick Perry, Texas, Central America