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NASHVILLE President Obama came here to drum up support for his executive action on immigration and acknowledged that this city might not seem like the most obvious choice.

Some people might think Nashville was an odd place to talk about immigration. Its not what comes to mind when people think about gateways to America, Obama said at Casa Azafran, a local community center, but added: Nashvilles got one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the country.

Nashville, the legendary capital of country music, is also home to thousands of Mexicans, Burmese and as many as 11,000 Kurds, all drawn by the modest cost of living, job opportunities and an international community.

One out of every eight Nashville residents was born abroad, and 16percent of the citys population speaks a language other than English at home, according to the 2010 Census.

The presidents event here marked his third trip outside Washington to rally public support for his executive actions, following speeches in Las Vegas and Chicago late last month. On the trip to Nashville, he was joined on Air Force One by Frank Sharry of Americas Voice and Lorella Praeli of United We Dream, longtime immigration activists who were critical of Obama for not taking executive action sooner but have been supportive since his announcement last month.

President Obama held a town hall meeting on immigration reform in Nashville on Tuesday where he called on Congress to pass a law to fix the nations a broken immigration system. (Reuters)

The White House hopes Obamas personal appeal on immigration can help rebut fierce criticism by Republicans, who have attempted to paint him as imperial and acting unlawfully in circumventing Congress on his immigration changes.

When members of Congress question whether I have the authority to do this, I have one answer: Yes, and pass a bill, Obama said during a question-and-answer session in a small room.

Nursing a cup of tea, Obama fielded questions from people worried that a future administration could roll back Obamas protections for undocumented immigrants, something he said could happen. But the president said Americans basically have a good heart and would be opposed to any changes.

I think any future administration that tried to punish people for doing the right thing I think would not have the support of the American people, Obama said. He also stressed that people need to sign up for the protections and stressed that they would not be in danger.

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Obama takes pitch for immigration reform to Nashville