U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to discuss immigration Monday, when he addresses a leading Hispanic civil rights group.

Mr. Obama is to speak at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza in Washington.

La Raza, the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, expects 25,000 people to attend the four-day conference and Latino family expo.

Mr. Obama's address follows a recent White House-hosted Hispanic policy conference, months of intense outreach to Hispanic voters and a big push on immigration.

Hispanics, a rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population, gave crucial support to Mr. Obama's 2008 election.

The president has faced intense criticism from the Hispanic community for failing to act on the immigration issue during his first two years in office and for the deportation of nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants last year.