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Bush proposes tighter borders, guest worker program

Louie Gilot
El Paso Times
Tuesday, November 29, 2005

President Bush, who is on a two-day trip emphasizing border security and immigration, arrived in El Paso today and stopped at a levee road near Bowie High School before leaving just before 10:30 a.m.

At the stop, the president pitched his proposal to increase funding for border security and noted his support for a guest worker proposal.

Among the president’s plans to tighten border security were ending the “catch and release� program, in which immigrants from some countries are given a court date and then released into the United States until their hearings. He also said he hoped to increase the number of beds at immigration detention centers. And he said he supports a work-side enforcement effort, which would target employers who use undocumented immigrants.

But, he said, “we are also a compassionate nation,� and he insisted that immigrants would be treated humanely.

He said that the United States needs a temporary worker program, but that the program would not be amnesty. “Amnesty would be a mistake,� Bush said.

However, he said, a temporary worker program that allowed immigrants to take jobs that Americans didn’t want “would take pressure off our borders.�

At the stop, Bush was joined by U.S. Attorney for the Western District Johnny Sutton and Paul Beeson, Border Patrol deputy chief in El Paso and the de facto head of the sector.

Bush arrived in El Paso with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

At the stop, Bush also took some questions from reporters about the war in Iraq and reiterated that pulling U.S. forces out of the country would be a mistake.

When Bush returned to Air Force One, he spoke with Adair Margo, an El Paso gallery owner and long-time Bush supporter and family friend. He also waved to the approximately 25 employees from the U.S. attorney’s office who were on hand to welcome the president, and shook hands with Beeson and other Border Patrol agents.

Bush was met at the El Paso International Airport by Gov. Rick Perry and other local leaders. After honoring an El Pasoan with the President's Volunteer Award, the president left in his motorcade, got on Interstate 10 at Hawkins and exited I-10 at Executive Center. Parts of I-10 were closed for the president.

The motorcade drove along Paisano before getting on a levee road adjacent to the Rio Grande.

El Pasoan Dale Baugh was given the volunteer award at the airport for his work with the El Paso Police Department's Citizens Police Academy and the Sex Offender and Tracking Unit.

On Monday, Bush spoke at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and flew to Phoenix for a fund-raiser for Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl.

In Tucson on Monday, Bush said he would get tough on illegal immigration and reiterated his support for a temporary guest worker program.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, said Bush has failed to provide "balanced, measured" leadership, in a statement released after Bush's comments in Arizona.

"The president focuses on border security and enforcement â€â€