Tweet
Posted on Tue, Oct. 18, 2005
Bush renews proposal for guest-worker program
BY WILLIAM E. GIBSON
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
WASHINGTON - Faced with constant pressure at the borders and a burgeoning illegal population, President Bush and a powerful alliance of business, labor and advocacy groups revived attempts on Tuesday to transform the nation's dysfunctional immigration system.
"This is a system desperately in need of repair," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
While congressional and business leaders joined the call for an immigration overhaul, Bush renewed his proposal to create a foreign guest-worker program to supply American employers and provide a legitimate alternative to illegal entries by land, sea and air.
"It makes sense to have a rational plan that says you can come and work on a temporary basis if an employer can't find an American to do the job," Bush said as he signed a $31 billion homeland security bill.
"The fewer people trying to sneak in to work means it's more likely we're going to catch drug smugglers and terrorists and gun runners," he said.
Much of the debate focuses on the Southwest border, but the issue has far-reaching implications for many other states with large populations of undocumented workers. Even many smaller states in the heartland are experiencing immigration pressures.
Immigration declined sharply in 2001, then rose again last year as the economy expanded, creating a tighter labor market.
"We face a current and future worker shortage," Thomas Donohue, president of the national Chamber of Commerce, told several hundred business leaders and guests who packed into the chamber's ornate dining room to hear from Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz.
As for the current undocumented workforce, Donohue said, "We can't just round them up and deport them. And if we did, our economy would be shut down."
Kennedy and McCain seized the moment to promote their legislation, which would open a path to permanent legal status for many of the 11 million people who are living in this country illegally.
Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., an immigrant and the first Cuban-American elected to the Senate, has joined the emotional debate by saying he is considering his own legislation, including measures to expand economic opportunities abroad to reduce immigration pressures.
"He wants to influence the debate in his own way," said the senator's spokeswoman, Kerry Feehery. "Any product that has a chance of success has to firm up border security and be more realistic about addressing the illegal immigrants who live and work here."
Meanwhile, several conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill, who strongly oppose any form of amnesty for illegal residents, touted their proposals to crack down at the borders and at U.S. worksites.
"If we enhance our enforcement actions against businesses, if we eliminate (crossing) through fences and enforcement on the border, if we enhance the ability for people to come legally with a biometric identifier, this thing can tip and you can make huge progress," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told Chertoff.
Bush - along with business groups, some labor unions, Kennedy, McCain and immigrant advocates - say the solution is to channel new arrivals into a legal and controllable program, which they hope would discourage illegal crossings.
But Bush wants foreign workers to return to their home countries after a maximum of six years. Kennedy and McCain, backed by immigration advocates, say the undocumented should have a chance to earn their way to legal status and U.S. citizenship through steady work and by paying fees and fines of $2,000.
Kennedy and McCain, whose home state has seen some of the highest migration deaths on its border with Mexico, told reporters they hope to work out a compromise with the Bush administration to form a unified push behind sweeping legislation in this session of Congress.
"There is very little doubt in my mind that we will prevail over time," McCain said.
Bush renews proposal for guest-worker program
BY WILLIAM E. GIBSON
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
WASHINGTON - Faced with constant pressure at the borders and a burgeoning illegal population, President Bush and a powerful alliance of business, labor and advocacy groups revived attempts on Tuesday to transform the nation's dysfunctional immigration system.
"This is a system desperately in need of repair," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
While congressional and business leaders joined the call for an immigration overhaul, Bush renewed his proposal to create a foreign guest-worker program to supply American employers and provide a legitimate alternative to illegal entries by land, sea and air.
"It makes sense to have a rational plan that says you can come and work on a temporary basis if an employer can't find an American to do the job," Bush said as he signed a $31 billion homeland security bill.
"The fewer people trying to sneak in to work means it's more likely we're going to catch drug smugglers and terrorists and gun runners," he said.
Much of the debate focuses on the Southwest border, but the issue has far-reaching implications for many other states with large populations of undocumented workers. Even many smaller states in the heartland are experiencing immigration pressures.
Immigration declined sharply in 2001, then rose again last year as the economy expanded, creating a tighter labor market.
"We face a current and future worker shortage," Thomas Donohue, president of the national Chamber of Commerce, told several hundred business leaders and guests who packed into the chamber's ornate dining room to hear from Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz.
As for the current undocumented workforce, Donohue said, "We can't just round them up and deport them. And if we did, our economy would be shut down."
Kennedy and McCain seized the moment to promote their legislation, which would open a path to permanent legal status for many of the 11 million people who are living in this country illegally.
Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., an immigrant and the first Cuban-American elected to the Senate, has joined the emotional debate by saying he is considering his own legislation, including measures to expand economic opportunities abroad to reduce immigration pressures.
"He wants to influence the debate in his own way," said the senator's spokeswoman, Kerry Feehery. "Any product that has a chance of success has to firm up border security and be more realistic about addressing the illegal immigrants who live and work here."
Meanwhile, several conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill, who strongly oppose any form of amnesty for illegal residents, touted their proposals to crack down at the borders and at U.S. worksites.
"If we enhance our enforcement actions against businesses, if we eliminate (crossing) through fences and enforcement on the border, if we enhance the ability for people to come legally with a biometric identifier, this thing can tip and you can make huge progress," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told Chertoff.
Bush - along with business groups, some labor unions, Kennedy, McCain and immigrant advocates - say the solution is to channel new arrivals into a legal and controllable program, which they hope would discourage illegal crossings.
But Bush wants foreign workers to return to their home countries after a maximum of six years. Kennedy and McCain, backed by immigration advocates, say the undocumented should have a chance to earn their way to legal status and U.S. citizenship through steady work and by paying fees and fines of $2,000.
Kennedy and McCain, whose home state has seen some of the highest migration deaths on its border with Mexico, told reporters they hope to work out a compromise with the Bush administration to form a unified push behind sweeping legislation in this session of Congress.
"There is very little doubt in my mind that we will prevail over time," McCain said.
