Bush calls for immigration overhaul ( 2004-01-08 09:46) (Agencies)
Promoting a plan that could
brighten his election-year prospects with Hispanic voters, U.S. President Bush
on Wednesday proposed legal status — at least temporarily — for millions of
illegal immigrants working in the United States.
But the sweeping policy overhaul, offered with few specifics, also angered
many in the president's conservative Republican base of support and drew
criticism from advocacy groups who questioned whether it would do much to help
immigrants.
Democrats were united in calling the plan a political ploy that offers a
false promise of legitimacy for the undocumented workers.
Decrying a system that now has "millions of hardworking men and women
condemned to fear and insecurity in a massive undocumented economy," Bush urged
Congress to approve a temporary worker program.
The program would be open to all undocumented workers now in the United
States. Applicants who can show they have a job — or for those still in their
home countries, a job offer — would get an initial three-year work permit that
would be renewable for an unspecified period.
"We should have immigration laws that work and make us proud. Yet today we do
not," Bush said in the White House's East Room, which he entered to loud cheers
from dozens of representatives from Hispanic organizations and immigration
groups.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, praised Bush for opening the
debate and said that a new immigration policy should "extend a welcoming hand to
those whose presence will benefit our nation and our economy."
Allowing undocumented workers, who make up an unknown percentage of the
approximately 8 million illegal immigrants now in the United States, to work
legally here would benefit all Americans, Bush argued. He said it would make the
nation's borders more secure by allowing officials to focus more on the real
threats to the country and would meet U.S. employers' dire need for workers
willing to take the low-wage, low-skill jobs unwanted by many Americans.
It also is the right thing to do, Bush said, to pull immigrants who now live
in the shadows of American society under the protection of U.S. labor laws,
allow them to travel freely back and forth to their home countries, bring
dependents they can support here with them and grant them the confidence to talk
openly to authorities about crimes and exploitation on the job.
"One of the primary reasons America became a great power in the 20th century
is because we welcomed the talent and the character and the patriotism of
immigrant families," the president said. "We must make our immigration laws more
rational and more humane. And I believe we can do so without jeopardizing the
livelihoods of American citizens."
But even as Bush made the announcement, the tough sales job ahead for the
White House was apparent as the president's plan drew heated criticism from both
the right and the left.
Many conservatives balked at the idea of any reward for people who broke the
law by coming to the United States.
"I'm not for allowing illegals to stay in this country," said Rep. Virgil
Goode, R-Va. "I think they should have to go back to their home countries ...
and get in line with Jack, Suzy and John and apply for a guest worker position."
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, also charged that the Bush plan would make it
harder to win the war on terrorism. "Guest worker programs and gradual amnesty
provide cover for terrorists," he said.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., predicted Bush's "dangerous and unworkable"
proposals would be rejected by Congress. "Neither Mexicans nor anyone else will
go through the hassle and paperwork of seeking legal jobs as long as the border
is porous and employers can ignore the laws with impunity," he said.
Bush said the program does not provide blanket amnesty — which he defined as
an "automatic path to citizenship" — for foreigners who are in the United States
illegally.
"America is a welcoming country, but citizenship must not be the automatic
reward for violating the laws of America," he said.
But workers accepted into the program would be allowed to immediately, with
an employer's sponsorship, begin applying for a green card, which allows
permanent U.S. residency. Although these workers would get no advantage over
other applicants already in the long line for green cards, an illegal immigrant
who attempted to apply now would simply be deported.
With about half the illegal immigrants estimated to be from Mexico, the
program was designed in part to win Bush increased support among the powerful
Hispanic voting bloc in the November presidential election. He won just over
one-third of that constituency in 2000.
It also was aimed at smoothing the United States' sometimes-rocky relations
with Mexico ahead of a visit by Bush there next week. But the plan was not the
broad and immediate amnesty program that Mexican President Vicente Fox has
wanted, and the Mexican government's response was tepid. Fox, after a call
Wednesday morning from Bush outlining the plan, called it merely "very
interesting."
John Gay, co-chairman of the Essential Workers Immigration Coalition, a group
of businesses and trade associations that have pushed for immigration reform,
said the president "has gotten the big things right" but was worried about the
details.
"We're going to have a lot of work in front of us, though, to make a workable
immigration reform bill out of these principles," he said.
Some Republican lawmakers who have been working on the issue, including Rep.
Jim Kolbe of Arizona and Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, criticized Bush for not
including in his plan a guaranteed way to get permanent residency without
leaving the country, as well as for being silent on many details.
Rep. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., House Democratic Caucus chairman and the
highest-ranking Hispanic in Congress, said few immigrants would want to
participate in the program because they know they will be deported after their
term is up. Bush's principles say that "he wants their sweat and labor, but he
ultimately doesn't want them," Menendez said.
