Bush ordering up to 6,000 in Guard to border

High stakes
Bush’s prime-time speech came weeks after millions of immigrants and their supporters rallied across the United States in support of the Senate legislation and its provision giving illegal immigrants a chance to earn legal status.

Timed to coincide with the resumption of that Senate debate, the speech also comes as Bush’s job approval ratings continue to slide to around 30 percent in some recent polls.

With the immigration debate high-stakes politics for Bush and his party, the president's top political adviser, Karl Rove, insisted that reform must be comprehensive.

“This is a problem of security,” Rove said, “It is a problem of our economy. It is a problem of compassion."

In a further signal of the high stakes on the issue, Bush planned to follow up his address with a visit Thursday to the border, in Yuma, Ariz., to further press his case.

Reid and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist both said they expected the Senate to pass comprehensive immigration legislation by Memorial Day. The measure before the Senate calls for greater border security, new guest worker programs and an eventual chance at citizenship for most of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

Bush has signaled overall approval of the measure several times, but has yet to endorse the bill, which has drawn fierce criticism from House Republicans whose support will be needed eventually to pass a compromise measure.

Democrats, Republicans challenge Bush
“Democrats are willing to support any reasonable plan that will secure our borders, including deploying National Guard troops,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. “But Americans don’t want a plan that’s been cobbled together to win political favor. This cannot turn into another long-term military deployment with no clear plan.”

Reid said Bush “got off to a good start tonight, but now he must stand up to right-wing members of his own party who are working to block Senate action.” He called on Bush to “denounce the misguided approach of House Republicans” who won passage of a a tough immigration bill that would erect fences along the Mexican border and treat people who sneak across as felons to be deported.

Conservative Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama warned Bush about doing too little. “It can't be a token effort by the president,” he said. "I think there are a lot of members of Congress that will not support legislation that they think is ineffective in enforcement at the border."

MORE FROM SECURITY

Security Section Front

Tracking smugglers along the Mexican border 570,000 9/11 pager messages released U.S. offers $5 million reward for 'Bomb Man' New charges in Somali terror case Lawyer: Sept. 11 defendants want to air views Security Section Front   Add Security headlines to your news reader: