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Bush adviser: Immigration answer in the middle

DOUGLAS J. GUTH, Senior Staff Reporter

Should they stay or should they go? For many, this is the crux of the debate on illegal immigration.


The answer is not so simple for Carlos Iturregui, President George W. Bush’s adviser on immigration reform. Echoing the president’s reform plan, Iturregui believes a happy medium must be reached, allowing some illegals to stay in the US.

Deporting every immigrant is not only impossible, it’s also impractical, Iturregui told a City Club of Cleveland audience June 2. The estimated 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants are critical to this country’s “economic stability,” maintained Iturregui. He is an official with US. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, and one of the three agencies that used to make up the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Iturregui’s job is to develop and discuss the Bush administration’s views on immigration reform. Iturregui’s office is currently in the midst of processing a huge backlog of immigrant application forms; USCIS completes about 140,000 immigrant background checks each day, said the lawyer and policy analyst.


In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week, Bush stressed the necessity of finding a middle ground “between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program that requires every illegal immigrant to leave.”

Iturregui backs the key elements of Bush’s reform plan, which shies away from mass deportation, edging instead toward a middle way that secures the borders while drawing illegal immigrants into mainstream America.

Bush’s strategy relies on improved border security, penalties for employers who hire illegal workers, a guest worker program, and a controversial “path to citizenship” for people here illegally.

Last month, the US Senate approved a wide-ranging overhaul of immigration laws. It voted to bolster security at the Mexican border (the first of 6,000 National Guard troops were scheduled to start work this week) and to grant many illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship.

Under the Senate bill, illegal immigrants who have been living in the country for more than five years could apply for their green card first and eventually apply for citizenship. Those living in the country two to five years would have to exit the country and apply for their green card. Those who have lived here less than two years would be automatically deported.


The guest worker program would allow immigrants to work in the country for three years, after which they would be eligible for a three-year extension. The number of temporary-worker visas would be limited to 200,000 per year.

The citizenship portion of the Senate bill is particularly contentious to the House of Representatives, which passed a harsher bill in December, omitting the guest-worker program and any legalization process for illegal immigrants. The House and Senate bills will soon head to a conference committee for possible reconciliation.

Several House opponents say the Senate’s citizenship provisions are tantamount to amnest — more or less pardoning immigrants for entering the country illegally. This thought was echoed by several members of The City Club audience.

“The president does not believe in amnesty,” said Iturregui.


Bush’s three-tiered path-to-citizenship program is no easy go for immigrants, added the USCIS official. Even those who have lived here illegally for five years would likely have to learn English and pay back taxes and other “meaningful fines” before their citizenship is granted.

Another audience member, noting the immigration problem has been around for decades, asked why the Bush administration did not use existing laws to stop employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Iturregui said that while employers “can’t be cops,” the proposed guest-worker program would reveal undocumented workers and expose them to fair-labor standards.

In the end, noted Iturregui, permanent immigration reform “can get these people out of the shadow” of poverty and the unemployment they suffered within their home countries.


“The easiest thing to do would be nothing,” he said. As that is not an option, fixing immigration would allow illegals to “live the American dream without sacrificing our national security.”

dguth@cjn.org