Bush pledges to deter illegal immigrants

Helping immigrants and the economy
Bush last year introduced a plan that would allow undocumented workers to get three-year work visas. They could extend that for another three years, but would then have to return to their home countries for a year to apply for a new work permit. The president called his proposal a necessity for an economy that needs employees for jobs many Americans don’t want.

GOP leaders in both the House and Senate have suggested that Congress should first take up the enforcement issue, putting off debate on the more complex issues of undocumented workers and the demand for low-skilled labor in this country.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said the administration should be concerned about securing the borders before moving forward on a guest worker plan.

“The administration’s continued kowtowing to big business defies political sense,” said Tancredo, who has been at loggerheads with the White House over the proposal and whose calls for tough immigration measures have drawn the ire of Hispanic groups.

“Slowly, the president’s team is coming to realize that they have a political revolt on their hands. And, it’s no longer just the conservative base that’s angry about illegal immigration — there’s widespread discontent about our broken system from coast to coast, from left to right.”

11 million illegal immigrants
But Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said that with reports of larger numbers of illegal immigrants — often estimated around 11 million — than legal immigrants, his panel would address comprehensive change. “It is a matter of very, very substantial urgency,” he said.

Several members of the committee are sponsoring legislation that, in addition to strengthening border security and workplace enforcement, would set up guest worker programs.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has a bill that would provide visas for up to six years, after which the worker must either leave the country or be in the pipeline for a green card.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Bush’s guest worker program offers no path toward legalization of immigrants and will create a permanent underclass.

“We need a plan that will allow immigrants who are already here to earn their residency through hard work and that will create legal channels for immigrant workers necessary for our economic growth to enter in the future,” Reid said.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have a rival bill that would require illegal aliens to return to their home country to apply for the temporary worker program.

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