Bush talks tough on immigration

[larah]

TUCSON, Arizona (CNN) -- President Bush launched a new push to crack down on illegal immigration from Mexico, promising to "harden" the southern U.S. border while reviving his proposal for a guest-worker program critics say is a form of amnesty.
"The American people should not have to choose between a welcoming society and a lawful society," Bush told an array of customs, immigration and border patrol officers at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. "We can have both at the same time."
After spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, the president hit the road to sell his immigration policy, with a stop in El Paso, Texas, scheduled for Tuesday.
Bush endorsed building more jail cells to hold those caught inside the United States illegally, speeding up deportations, cracking down on fraudulent papers and "hardening" the border with additional officers, fences and monitoring devices.
"Securing our border is essential to securing the homeland," he said.
Bush also urged Congress to back his proposal for a temporary-worker program, a long-standing idea he said would match legal immigrants with employers "to fill jobs that Americans will not do."
But he said the program would not provide a path to citizenship for those who entered the country illegally, saying that doing so would encourage other would-be migrants to cross the border.
"I support increasing the number of annual green cards that can lead to citizenship," Bush said. "But for the sake of justice and for the sake of border security, I'm not going to sign an immigration bill that includes amnesty."
Bush also said he would crack down on U.S. businesses that hire illegal immigrants, saying American employers "have an obligation to abide by the law."
The renewed focus on immigration follows a sharp drop in the president's approval rating, and recent polls indicate most of his fellow Republicans oppose his handling of the issue.
Many of his conservative allies have criticized the guest-worker program, which they say would allow illegal immigrants to obtain legal status. Many Democrats have also opposed the proposal, which Bush first outlined in January 2004. (Full story)
Rep. Tom Tancredo, an outspoken advocate of a tough stance on illegal immigration, said Bush's credibility "is on the line, big-time" over the issue.
"People even in his own party are worried about whether or not you can really take to the bank what he tells you," said the Colorado Republican. "So the president has not only got to actually say the right stuff, he's got to do the right stuff. We've got to see action on top of words."
But one GOP analyst has warned that Bush must strike a delicate balance by talking tough on border security without alienating swing voters, women and Hispanics -- the latter a group Republicans have tried to court since Bush's first presidential campaign.
"Republicans are talking about solutions rather than just making a lot of noise," said Leslie Sanchez, the former director of Hispanic communications for the Republican National Committee. "But with those solutions come a lot of things that can look like immigrant-bashing."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush wants a "comprehensive" overhaul of immigration policy, emphasizing both border security and the guest-worker proposal. But he denied that represented any shift in the president's focus.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/...ion/index.html


About freaking time he came up with a plan! It's not fair that illegal immigrants get to stay while people that actually apply for visas get denied! And if they need more guards for the borders, then my husband had a good idea. Instead of sending our people out of the country on long TDY's let them do rotations guarding the Mexican border!

[solaris]

it is about Time, halleluja .
The minutemen can only do do much.
I hope he sticks with it.

[solaris]

shoot I do it, for FREE.

[Caesar_MG]

Bush also urged Congress to back his proposal for a temporary-worker program, a long-standing idea he said would match legal immigrants with employers "to fill jobs that Americans will not do."

Man, that's a BAD idea. Maybe he could make it work, but I doubt it. He should just completely abandon the whole "guest-worker" thing.

I usually back the President on most issues, but this is one I can't compromise on.

I'd sign up in a heartbeat to secure the borders. Like I said, if I was President...land mines. (you can start jumping all over me now)

.

[larah]

Caesar for president!

[Caesar_MG]

LOL! Nah...I wouldn't get elected. The Libs would have an anuerysm. LMAO!

[larah]

Man, that's a BAD idea. Maybe he could make it work, but I doubt it. He should just completely abandon the whole "guest-worker" thing.

I usually back the President on most issues, but this is one I can't compromise on.

I'd sign up in a heartbeat to secure the borders. Like I said, if I was President...land mines. (you can start jumping all over me now)

.

I don't agree with that part either. That's like it was in Germany in the 70s when all the foreigners were brought in from Turkey etc to fill jobs Germans didn't want to do. Before implementing a program like that he needs to take care of the general problem first: close the borders and kick out all illegal immigrants! After that he can come up with some program to fill those jobs.

[Caesar_MG]

OBTW:

Congrats on your Citizenship! I just noticed (late, I know...but I haven't seen you in the forum in a while...Sorry.)