Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) will meet with President Barack Obama on Thursday to discuss next week’s Senate action on the DREAM Act and the path ahead for comprehensive immigration reform.

“I’m sure that at the end of that meeting, we will be able to report to all of you that the president will be embracing the DREAM Act and will be calling on action by the Senate to pass it and pass it now,” Velázquez said Wednesday during an immigration reform forum.

The Democrats’ meeting with the president is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the White House.

Gutierrez, chairman of the CHC’s Immigration Task Force, said he plans to press Obama to “stand up” to make sure Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has “everything he needs” to ensure Congressional passage of the DREAM Act. Reid announced Tuesday he would add the DREAM Act to the Defense authorization bill, which he plans to bring up next week. The Dream Act would provide a pathway to citizenship for children in the country illegally who serve in the military or go to college.

“We will also ask him to use all his power, to use all of his influence, to use all his might and to use that bully pulpit of the White House … to make sure that the DREAM Act has a successful vote next week,” said Gutierrez, who also spoke at the forum.