Republicans moving ahead on key demographic group of the new decade:
<<Group Backs 'Guest Worker' Program
AP
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
The millions of illegal Mexican immigrants in the U.S. should be granted guest-worker status or legal residency, according to a proposal written by a study group headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Such a move would be "part of our continued effort to work with the Mexican government toward our shared goal of a more orderly, more humane, legal and safe migration," spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The plan, sent to the White House Friday, would give guest-worker status to the immigrants and eventually could lead to permanent legal status to some of the 3 million Mexicans now in the United States unlawfully.
The New York Times, which first reported the recommendation, quoted unidentified administration officials and outside experts as saying 1 million to 2 million of the Mexican illegals could benefit from the program, although McClellan and a Justice Department spokesman said Tuesday the proposal contained no figures on how many people it could affect.
White House staff and the group would still have to meet several times over the coming months to work out details of the program. President Bush's domestic policy and national security advisers are currently studying the matter, McClellan said.
The Justice-State task force hopes to have recommendations by September, when Mexican President Vicente Fox visits Bush in Washington.
In the past, Bush has stopped short of endorsing blanket amnesty for Mexicans in this country illegally. But White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said a week ago that Bush was committed to working with the Mexican government to ease what has been a disorderly process along the 2,000-mile border.
Fox welcomed the development at the time, saying he was committed to "as many rights as possible for as many Mexican immigrants as possible as soon as possible."
Congressional conservatives have opposed anything beyond allowing Mexicans to stay as temporary laborers. Republican Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas said last week that any proposal to grant amnesty would set a bad example for 7 million Mexican immigrants who have legally applied to enter the country and are waiting for their paperwork to be approved.
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, introduced legislation last week to create a program that lets farm workers now working in the United States become permanent residents after working 150 days a year for four years.
Any decision on granting legal status to Mexicans living in the United States illegally would have political ramifications for Bush. He has actively courted the Hispanic vote, which could be an important voting bloc for the 2004 presidential election.>> |
