Thread: Bush will push citizenship plan for immigrants during tonigh

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/14580828.htm

Posted on Mon, May. 15, 2006

Bush will push citizenship plan for immigrants during tonight's speech

GEBE MARTINEZ
New York Times News Service

WASHINGTON - Determined to get immigration reforms through a reluctant Congress this year, President Bush will use the weight of a prime-time address from the White House to press for a legalization option for illegal immigrants.

He also is expected to outline a plan for stepped up National Guard involvement in the federal government's efforts to stop illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Tonight's 20-minute speech, to be delivered as the Senate resumes consideration of a comprehensive immigration bill, will be the first in which the president addresses a prime-time audience from the Oval Office about a domestic issue.

"This is crunch time," White House spokesman Tony Snow said of Bush's decision to speak to the nation.

By highlighting the emotional immigration debate that has sparked massive demonstrations throughout the country, the Republican president is confronting conservatives in his party who oppose his call for an earned citizenship program for illegal immigrants who pay fines and back taxes, learn English and meet other requirements. The House has passed a border security bill that does not include a guest worker program or legalization option for many of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Bush's pitch also comes as his job-approval ratings continue to sink amid indications that dissatisfaction with his handling of the immigration issue is particularly high among the GOP's conservative base.

A Harris Poll released Friday gave Bush a public job approval rating of 29 percent.

With his own party "hitting at him like a pinata, any hope that he has of prevailing on a domestic agenda is dwindling," said Norman Ornstein, a senior analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. "What the president is going to end up doing is forging ahead" on an issue he cares about.

The White House has been trying to save its political capital on the issue until after the Senate finishes its bill and is ready to negotiate differences with the enforcement-only House bill.

But with the Senate about to begin two weeks of contentious debate on a comprehensive bill that tracks Bush's goals - improving border enforcement, raising penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and offering a so-called path to citizenship - the White House apparently decided the president's speech can help push the bill through the Senate.

Bush is expected to back the ingredients of the pending Senate bipartisan compromise bill without specifically endorsing it.

With a nod to conservative critics, Bush is expected to argue that effective border enforcement is vital but cannot happen without a temporary worker program that better tracks who is entering and exiting the country.

He also will renew his argument that from a moral stance, the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. should not be rounded up and deported, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"He feels very passionate about this issue," the aide said, noting that Bush has worked on the speech for the past two weeks. "With a complex problem like this, we have to have common sense, rational proposals."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said that while Bush has been a "forceful advocate" of temporary worker visas, "I hope that he uses his speech on Monday to continue to make the case for comprehensive immigration reform," including improved border security.

senior analyst at the American Enterprise Institute

Bush has worked on the speech for the past two weeks.

He's been working on this for two weeks?

It sounds exactly like the same crap he's been spewing for the past five years.

Poll numbers down in the low to mid twenties by next week is my guess.

How can anyone take Bush seriously about our borders KNOWING full well he is implementing the Common North American Coummunity agenda?

If he gave a rip about this Country he would have shut down the borders after 9-11!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you say "Globalist"!

"With a complex problem like this, we have to have common sense, rational proposals."

The implication being that if you want our borders secured and our laws enforced, you're irrational? I'm not even going to bother watching this circus tonight. Bush is irrational if he thinks we're going to accept amnesty.

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!