Bush: Next Up is Immigration Reform
President Bush plans to kick off his reelection year by proposing a program that would make it easier for immigrants to work legally in the United States, in what would constitute the most significant changes to immigration law in 18 years, Republican officials said yesterday.
Lobbyists working with the White House said Bush is developing a plan that would allow immigrants to cross the border legally if jobs are waiting for them. The sources said the administration also wants to provide a way for some undocumented workers in the United States to move toward legal status.
Bush will try to make the plan more palatable to conservatives by including stricter entry controls, including increased use of technology at the border and steps toward better enforcement of current visa restrictions and reporting requirements, sources said.
Bush said at his year-end news conference last week that he was preparing to send Congress recommendations for an "immigration policy that helps match any willing employer with any willing employee." He said he is "firmly against blanket amnesty," or a mass legalization. An estimated 8 million undocumented people live in the United States. At least half of them are Mexican, authorities said.
Get the rest of this article from the Washington Post.
Matt's Chat
More triangulation or serious reform? I'm not sure, but so long as we take a good look at enforcement of our immigration law, I'm in...Mark's Remarks
You know, I don't know what to make of this, but if it involves some cracking down, count me in. I mean, there are jobs out there that could be filled by young Americans, but the young people in this country have gotten so spoiled and such in their upbringing, in my opinion. I mean, no one wants to do farm work anymore, they long for air conditioning. No one wants to clean houses or anything like that. Or pick fruit. If foreigners want to do it, then we need someone to come and do it. What we need is better enforcement and documentation, then we can get some tax money out of these people and let them fully contribute. Of course, if people were not so spoiled, they would go out and take these jobs. But, unions and the like in many cases have priced the American worker out of jobs, and business owners will pay whoever is willing to do it for the most expedient rate.
