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Saying the American experience was formed by "stitching together folks from different backgrounds," President Barack Obama used a Polish cultural center in Chicago as a backdrop Tuesday to draw a line between immigration reform and unease over a Missouri police shooting.

Speaking to a multiethnic gathering at the Copernicus Center on the Northwest Side, Obama condemned sporadic violence that has erupted in the wake of Monday's grand jury decision not to indict a Ferguson, Mo., police officer for shooting and killing an unarmed black teenager during a controversial altercation in August.

"Burning buildings, torching cars, destroying property, putting people at risk that's destructive and there's no excuse for it," said Obama, who contrasted that behavior with peaceful protests he said were productive and appropriate manifestations of frustrations felt by many minorities.

"Being American doesn't mean you have to look a certain way or have the right name," the president said, stressing that he was not taking a position on the specifics of the Ferguson case. "If any part of the American community doesn't feel welcomed or treated fairly, that's something that puts all of us at risk and we all have to be concerned about it."

Obama's brief hometown appearance, planned before the Ferguson decision came down, was aimed at making the argument that unilateral action on immigration reform he announced last week had impact far beyond the Latino community most affected by it.

That was vividly underscored by the choice of the Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave., to reinforce Obama's case that "we are and always will be a nation of immigrants."

The facility, a converted movie palace, is dedicated to celebrating the contributions of the large waves of ethnic Poles who have comprised a major portion of Chicago's immigrant community over the last century. Before his speech, Obama met privately with leaders representing not just the Latino and Polish communities but also Chinese, Irish and African ethnic groups as well.

As that meeting was underway, the White House also released a letter from Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny expressing his "warm appreciation of the very important step you have taken to help undocumented migrants in the U.S."

"Being a nation of immigrants gives us a huge entrepreneurial advantage over other nations," Obama told the crowd, nodding to an administration study claiming his actions to ease the legal cloud hanging over millions of undocumented workers would lead to $90 billion in added economic activity over the next decade.

Citing frustration over political gridlock in Washington, Obama took unilateral action to allow millions of immigrants now in the country without legal permission to live and work here without fear of deportation.

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Obama visits Chicago to tout immigration action, cites Ferguson controversy