Obama defends record on immigration at Univision forum Recent polls have showed President Obama leading among Latino registered voters Obama handily won the Latino vote in 2008 over Republican John McCain Latinos are considered a crucial bloc for the November election The forum comes after co-host criticizes lack of Latino moderator in upcoming debates (CNN) -- The immigration debate took center stage Thursday as U.S. President Barack Obama fielded questions in a forum broadcast live online by the Spanish-language Univision network. Co-host Jorge Ramos began questioning the president about the controversial topic by noting that he didn't deliver on his 2008 campaign pledge to tackle immigration reform during the first year of his term. "I want you to acknowledge that you did not keep your promise," Ramos said in Spanish, echoing a complaint that's been a sticking point with some Latino leaders during Obama's presidency. Obama said the first year of his term was consumed by efforts to help the economy and stop the country from going into another Great Depression. And political opponents, he said, kept many significant immigration measures from getting off the ground. "What I confess I did not expect ... is that Republicans who has previously supported comprehensive immigration reform ... suddenly would walk away," Obama said. That's what I did not anticipate. Asked whether his move this summer to halt deportations of some children of illegal immigrants was politically motivated by a desire to win the Latino vote, Obama said, "I think if you look at the polls, I was winning the Latino vote before that. I did this because I met young people all across the country, wonderful kids who sometimes were valedictorians, were participating in the community, had aspirations to go to college, some were serving in our military. ... There's no way you would think it was fair or just for us to have them suffering under a cloud of deportation," he said. After answering a series of Spanish questions about topics ranging from teacher strikes to Mexico's drug war, Obama brought up the topic again at the end of the forum. Asked by Ramos to identify his biggest failure, Obama offered a quick response. "Jorge, as you remind me, my biggest failure is that we haven't gotten comprehensive immigration reform done," he said. But it's not for lack of trying or desire. The forum, co-sponsored by Facebook, was broadcast live online in Spanish and English on Thursday afternoon and was scheduled to air on Univision later Thursday night. On the campaign trail, both Obama and Republican challenger Gov. Mitt Romney have been trying to woo Latino voters, considered a key demographic in the November election. Obama handily won the Latino vote in 2008 over Republican Sen. John McCain. Recent polls have showed Obama leading Romney among Latino registered voters. The impreMedia/Latino Decisions weekly tracking poll reported Monday that Obama held a 68% to 26% advantage over Romney among Hispanics. A Gallup poll conducted partially before and partially after the Republican National Convention at the end of August said Obama leads Romney among Latino registered voters 64% to 27%. But Latino leaders have criticized the president for an overall increase in deportations of undocumented immigrants in recent years. Last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 396,906 illegal immigrants, the largest number in the agency's history. On Thursday, Obama said he had never wavered in his support for immigration reform and criticized Romney's stance on the topic. The issue here for voters is whose vision best represents the aspirations, not just of the Latino community, but of all Americans who believe that we are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. And that candidate I believe is talking to you right now," he said as the audience at the University of Miami cheered. Romney appeared in another "Meet the Candidates" forum hosted by Univision on Wednesday. The events come weeks after Ramos criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates for not picking a Latino debate moderator. Candy Crowley, CNN's chief political correspondent and host of "State of the Union," will host the second debate on October 16 in Hempstead, New York, at Hofstra University. Univision presidential forums stocked with partisans CNN's Sarah Aarthun, Tom Cohen and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.