Politics

Bush Weighs Residency For Illegals

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

July 16, 2001 / 8:37 AM EDT / CBS

The Bush administration is considering and likely to approve a plan that could grant legal status to up to 3 million Mexican migrant workers living illegally in the United States - one of the largest amnesty programs ever considered.

Despite potential problems, press secretary Ari Fleischer said Monday that President Bush was committed to working with the Mexican government to ease "what has been a disorderly process" along the 2,000-mile border.

The administration's review touched off a lively political debate, with the strongest opposition coming from Mr. Bush's conservative Republican allies.

Mr. Bush has forged close ties with his Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox, who praised the plan and the workers it's meant to protect, reports CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales.

"Mexican migrant workers make a great contribution to the American economy and to the greatness of this country," Fox said Monday during a tour of the Midwest.

Both administrations hope the new policy will cut down on the flow of illegal immigrants making dangerous border crossings.

The White House also has a political stake. Thirty-five percent of Latinos voted for President Bush and their support could be crucial down the road.

A task force of top Justice and State Department officials prepared a report for the White House outlining options for overhauling U.S. immigration policies toward Mexico.

A broad grant of amnesty for illegal Mexicans already living in this country was among the options cited by the task force, but the report did not include specific recommendations or spell out a timetable, administration aides said.

Border safety issues will be considered in any immigration overhaul he said. He also suggested that a new program for guest workers those who are working only temporarily in the United States was being crafted.

Congressional conservatives have opposed anything beyond allowing Mexicans to stay as temporary laborers. The consideration of even limited amnesty is a divisive political issue, particularly in border states and among Republicans in Congress.

Granting legal residency to all Mexican immigrants now living in the United States is "very bad policy," said Sen. Phil Gramm, a Republican from Mr. Bush's home state of Texas. "It rewards lawlessness."

Gramm said the proposal would be a bad example for 7 million Mexican immigrants who have legally applied to enter the country and are waiting for their paperwork to be approved. "Should we reward people who broke the law? No," Gramm said in Houston.

On the Democratic side, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri praised the administration's review and added, "I hope and expect the Bush administration will seize this opportunity and not give in to the anti-immigrant forces in the Republican Party, who for too long have impeded progress on this issue," Gephardt said in a statement.

At the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza oMonday in Milwaukee, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said there is strong support among Democrats for legalization, but he wants to go further than Bush's potential plan.

"I am troubled by this distinction that has been drawn between Mexicans and everybody else," Daschle said, noting that he wants legalization to be extended to Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and other Hispanics.

In Washington, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., told reporters that the administration needs to work with Congress on immigration issues. "I think that just a mass amnesty is probably not the way to do it. I don't believe that's what the administration is thinking about," Lott said.

"But what they are thinking about is trying to work with the new reform president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, and come up with a reasonable way to have movement back and forth across our border, like we do with Canada."

Major questions remain about administering any program of relaxed immigration policies.

They include how quickly immigrants could earn legal status and whether they would gain it based on date of entry into the United States or by their occupations. Any program proposed by Mr. Bush would require approval by Congress.

Some Democrats have also expressed reservations, suggesting that guest-worker and amnesty programs could drive down wages and reduce the number of jobs available.