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Bush: Immigrants are not a threat Donna Smith / Reuters | March 28 2006 President George W. Bush warned the U.S. Congress on Monday against fearmongering as he kicked off an election-year battle over immigration against a backdrop of noisy and emotional protests in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit. On Capitol Hill, senators pushed for compromise legislation to better secure America's borders while offering millions a chance to be in the country legally, setting up a politically bruising battle with the U.S. House of Representatives, where the Republican majority has come out against legal incentives. Bush used a swearing-in ceremony for 30 new American citizens to push his own plan to create a temporary worker program and warned lawmakers to conduct a civil debate on the issue, which has divided the party that put him in power. "No one should play on people's fears or try to pit neighbors against each other," Bush said. "No one should pretend that immigrants are a threat to American identity, because immigrants have shaped America's identity." With his job approval rating at the lowest of his presidency, Bush is facing a new test of his political strength during a congressional election year, weeks after Republicans deserted him on a controversial deal to allow an Arab company to manage six U.S. ports. "Completing a comprehensive bill is not going to be easy," Bush said. "It will require all of us in Washington to make tough choices and make compromises." The House in December passed tough border security and enforcement bill that called for construction of a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico and would require employers to check the status of their workers. It would make living in the country without proper documents a felony and does not include Bush's guest worker program. THOUSANDS TAKE TO THE STREETS That bill has sparked hundreds of thousands of mostly Hispanic demonstrators to protest. Thousands turned out on Monday in San Francisco and Los Angeles and some 4,000 took to the streets in Detroit, following a gathering of more than 200,000 in Los Angeles on Saturday. More than a dozen immigrants and their advocates have been camped out on a week-long hunger strike at San Francisco's federal building. "Symbolically they are putting their life on the line because immigrants do every day," Robert Palmer of the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition. The Senate Judiciary Committee was racing against the clock on Monday to produce a bill that could bridge the divide by both toughening border security and enforcement measures, and providing a way for undocumented workers living in the country to become legal residents. The bill would create a temporary worker program, as Bush has advocated, to help employers fill jobs that Americans either do not want or lack the skills to fill. The committee must act before Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist brings his own bill to a vote on Tuesday if the panel fails to produce comprehensive legislation. "America needs secure borders," the Tennessee Republican and potential 2008 presidential candidate said. "Right now we don't have them." The U.S. public is divided between those who favor curbing illegal immigration with tighter border security and tougher enforcement and those who say it is essential to bring some of the estimated 12 million illegal workers out of the shadows with a comprehensive overhaul. Immigrant groups, labor unions and some business groups are pushing for broad reform that would give undocumented workers a way to earn permanent status and eventual citizenship. But many conservative Republicans, who normally back Bush, say that is a form of amnesty and would reward people for illegal behavior. Outside the Capitol building on Monday, an estimated 1,500 protesters joined more than 100 clergy members. In Oakland, Calif., Fernando Suarez del Solar, who says he immigrated legally in 1997, said the United States was happy to accept his son -- killed in Iraq in 2003 -- into the armed forces even though he had a residency permit, not citizenship. (Additional reporting by Patricia Wilson in Washington and Adam Tanner in San Francisco) --------------------------------------------------- Please help our fight against the New World Order by giving a donation. As bandwidth costs increase, the only way we can stay online and expand is with your support. Please consider giving a monthly or one-off donation for whatever you can afford. You can pay securely by either credit card or Paypal. Click here to donate. |
