WASHINGTON -- A senator leading the Democrats' push to revise the nation's immigration laws this year said Wednesday it can be done if his party and immigration advocates get tougher on illegal immigration.

"The public is tired of the rhetoric and wants a real solution," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Senate Judiciary immigration subcommittee. "The `amnesty, amnesty, amnesty' was white hot two years ago. People still don't want amnesty, but they want a solution."

Schumer spoke out the day before President Obama meets with lawmakers from both parties in hopes of launching a full-scale debate on a plan to rework immigration policy before the end of the year.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said the administration is not ready to say when a proposal will be developed. Instead, Thursday's gathering of officials from across the ideological spectrum is meant as a starting point.

"You should expect an honest discussion of the issues where we can identify areas of agreement, and areas where we still have work to do," Shapiro said.

On such a sensitive issue, with politicians of different parties and geographic bases disagreeing passionately, the idea is for all factions to come together around a broad compromise before bringing it into the public arena for debate and votes. Doing otherwise likely would result in the same kind of collapse of immigration legislation that happened in 2007, despite former President George W. Bush's support for it.

Schumer said the environment to rework immigration laws is much better now because Americans are looking for resolution and Republicans recognize "they are headed nowhere" if they can't improve in the polls with Hispanic voters.

He said Democrats have to toughen their position.

"I've told the advocates we have to come down hard on illegal immigration," Schumer said. "I say illegal immigrants. Two years ago Democrats said undocumented workers, which made people say, `Hmm. Maybe Democrats don't think it's bad to be an illegal immigrant."

Schumer said issuing fraud-resistant cards to all Americans wanting a job and harshly punishing employers who hire someone without one would help stem the flow of illegal immigrants. The cards would have an electronic identifier or biometric, such as fingerprints.

The White House meeting was originally scheduled for this month, but was postponed twice, leading many to question whether Obama intended to keep his campaign pledge to revamp immigration this year.

Obama told a Hispanic prayer breakfast last week that he is committed to a comprehensive immigration overhaul that includes a way for illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens. He also said he supports strengthening U.S. borders to thwart illegal immigration. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also said, however, that there may not be enough votes to pass sweeping revisions this year.

Schumer said he hopes Obama will use Thursday's meeting to "show he wants us to do it."

Immigration helped energize turnout in the 2008 election though many Hispanics still rank the economy as their top concern. About two-thirds of Hispanic voters cast their ballots for Obama in the 2008 elections, according to exit polls.