Bush Proposes Overhaul of Immigration Laws
Millions of Undocumented Workers Would be Given Temporary Legal Status
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 7, 2004; 5:53 PM
Calling for a major overhaul of a U.S. immigration system that he said is "not working," President Bush today unveiled a new guest worker program designed to offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants currently living in the United States and to allow millions of others to work here temporarily.
In a speech at the White House, Bush also called for an increase in the number of "green cards," denoting legal immigrant status, that the United States issues each year. But he repeatedly denied that he was advocating an amnesty for illegal immigrants, a step he said he opposes.
Bush said his plan "will make America a more compassionate and more humane and stronger country." He added: "As a national that values immigration, and depends on immigration, we should have immigration laws that work and make us proud. Yet today we do not. Instead, we see many employers turning to the illegal labor market. . . . The system is not working. Our nation needs an immigration system that serves the American economy and reflects the American dream."
Describing the core principle of his program, Bush said, "I propose a new temporary worker program that will match willing foreign workers with willing American employers, when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. This program will offer legal status, as temporary workers, to the millions of undocumented men and women now employed in the United States, and to those in foreign countries who seek to participate in the program and have been offered employment here."
He said participants in the program must have a job, if they are already in the United states illegally, or a U.S. job offer if they are living abroad.
"The legal status granted by this program will last three years and will be renewable -- but it will have an end," Bush said. He said foreign workers would be expected to return to their countries when their permits expire and would be given financial incentives to do so.
He said the program would not automatically lead to permanent legal status and U.S. citizenship, although temporary workers could apply for such status in the usual way.
Immigration authorities estimate that 8 million to 11 million illegal immigrants currently live in the United States. Nearly 5 million of them are from Mexico, whose president, Vicente Fox, has lobbied hard for greater U.S. accommodation of illegal Mexican workers. Bush is scheduled to visit Mexico next week to attend the Special Summit of the Americas, where he is expected to discuss immigration issues with Fox.
Although the Reagan administration enacted an amnesty in 1986 as part of a reform program that was aimed at curtailing illegal immigration, the undocumented population has risen sharply since then. Critics of the system say it expanded a cycle of illegal immigration, legalization, and more illegal immigration, as people who gained legal status then brought in relatives illegally to join them .
Bush's proposal immediately came under attack from both sides of the immigration debate. Immigrants' rights advocates charged that the proposal leaves the country's huge undocumented population as second-class citizens and exposes people to eventual deportation. Proponents of reducing the nation's current high immigration levels argued that the program rewards people who broke the law and amounts to an amnesty by another name.
Both sides accused Bush of pandering to the growing Hispanic population -- now the nation's largest minority -- in an election year in which Latino voters could be decisive swing voters in several key states.
Democratic presidential candidates generally disparaged the proposal, saying it falls short of genuine immigration reform.
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the current Democratic front-runner, said in a statement, "The president's proposal will help big corporations who currently employ undocumented workers, but it does nothing to place hard-working immigrants on a path to citizenship and would create a permanent underclass of service workers with second-class status."
He described Bush's plan as essentially "a cynical gesture in an election year." |
