Bush Ties Drop in Illegal Immigration to His Policies
ROBERT PEAR


JIM WATSON/AGENCE-FRANCE PRESSE — GETTY IMA

“When you’re apprehending fewer people, it means fewer are trying to come across,” President Bush said Monday in Yuma, Ariz.
Bush Ties Drop in Illegal Immigration to His Policies
ROBERT PEAR



YUMA, Ariz., April 9 — President Bush said Monday that tougher enforcement and a new fence at the Mexican border had sharply reduced the influx of illegal immigrants, and he pressed Congress to pass a sweeping revision of the nation’s immigration laws.

“It’s amazing progress that’s been made,” Mr. Bush said on a return visit to a section of the border that he inspected 11 months ago.

In the last six months, the White House said, Border Patrol reports showed that apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the Mexican border fell by 30 percent, to 418,184, from 594,142 in the comparable period a year earlier. In the Yuma sector, which spans parts of Arizona and California, apprehensions fell by 68 percent, to 25,217, from 79,131 in the comparable period a year earlier.

There are now 13,000 Border Patrol agents, up from 9,000 a year earlier. The number will reach 18,000 by the end of next year, Mr. Bush said.

The White House interprets the decline in apprehensions as a sign that the tighter security is working.

“When you’re apprehending fewer people, it means fewer are trying to come across,” Mr. Bush said. “And fewer are trying to come across because we’re deterring people from attempting illegal border crossings in the first place.”

While Border Patrol commanders have expressed cautious optimism that a corner is being turned, immigration experts note that apprehension figures swing erratically over the years. The numbers can be driven by a variety of factors aside from enforcement, including weather, Latin American economics and decisions by illegal immigrants to make fewer trips back and forth between the United States and Mexico.

At the dedication of a new Border Patrol station here, Mr. Bush said he hoped to strike a deal with Congress on immigration this year. Along with border control, he said, the essential elements of any bill are a temporary-worker program, a crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants and a procedure that would allow some illegal immigrants to legalize their status.

The politics of immigration have shifted noticeably since the Senate passed a bipartisan bill by a vote of 62 to 36 last May. When Democrats took control of Congress three months ago, many people predicted that it would be easier to pass a comprehensive bill with the major ingredients sought by Mr. Bush.

But the outlook is now uncertain. Republicans and some moderate Democrats in Congress say they could not vote for any measure granting legal status to illegal immigrants.

Presidential politics appear to have pushed Republicans, including Senator John McCain of Arizona, to the right. Some conservatives, who are influential in selecting a Republican presidential nominee, say that illegal immigrants have taken jobs from Americans and should not be rewarded for their illegal behavior.

Speaking to dozens of Border Patrol agents, gathered here under a bright sun, Mr. Bush said: “We’ve got to resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants already in the country. People who entered the country illegally should not be given amnesty. Amnesty is the forgiveness of an offense without penalty. I oppose amnesty, and I think most people in the United States Congress oppose amnesty.”

Mr. Bush, a former governor of Texas, said he was “working closely with Republicans and Democrats to find a practical answer that lies between granting automatic citizenship to every illegal immigrant and deporting every illegal immigrant.”

Under his proposal, Mr. Bush said, “illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay” could do so in some circumstances, if they paid fines and back taxes, learned English and showed they had worked here for a number of years.

Illegal immigrants could apply for citizenship. “Approval would not be automatic,” Mr. Bush said. “They would have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law.”

Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at the Cornell Law School, said if illegal immigrants had to wait their turn in this way, it might “take decades” for them to become citizens.

Administration officials estimate that 12 million illegal immigrants are in the United States and say the number has been growing by an average of 400,000 a year.

A White House draft proposal, circulated on Capitol Hill in the last two weeks, has angered many advocates of immigrants’ rights, who assert that it would require illegal immigrants to pay exorbitant fines and fees. The draft says the Bush administration would “bring illegal workers out of the shadows” by offering them a new type of document known as Z visas. These visas would last three years and would be “indefinitely renewable,” but would cost $3,500 each time.

The White House proposal would not establish a “special path to citizenship.” An illegal immigrant would have to return to his original country, file an application with a United States embassy or consulate and pay a fine — perhaps $10,000 — to become a lawful permanent resident.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts and a co-author of the immigration bill passed by the Senate last year, said no measure would be approved this year unless it had “strong Republican support.” Democrats said they were counting on the White House to deliver at least 25 Republican votes for the bill in the Senate and 70 in the House.

In response, Mr. Bush said Monday, “I’ve been working to bring Republicans and Democrats together to resolve outstanding issues so that Congress can pass a comprehensive bill and I can sign it into law this year.”


Last modified: April 10. 2007 12:00AM
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