U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez told a group of Immigration reform supporters on Saturday he's not sure he could back President Barack Obama in 2012 if he doesn't step up efforts to change deportation policy and education opportunities for illegal students.

Federal immigration officials, frustrated by the refusal of Chicago and Cook County to join a controversial program aimed at deporting immigrants with criminal records, pressed Mayor Richard M. Daley and Sheriff Tom Dart in an aggressive campaign to obtain participation from reluctant police authorities, according to internal documents.

Alaa, a 24-year-old Jordanian who has been living in Chicago since she was 7, has a story.