Critics Question Bush's 'Stealth'
Approach to Guest Worker Proposal
Ambar Espinoza     [Photo]

Hispanic leaders and immigrant advocates welcome President Bush's expressed commitment to comprehensive immigration reform but have expressed some concerns, following speeches he delivered in Tucson, Ariz. and El Paso, Texas last week.

In his messages, Bush called for a crackdown on undocumented immigrants and announced some specifics to tighten border security, refocusing his efforts to overhaul the current system by steering away from the guest worker component of the package.

Michele Waslin, director of immigration policy research at the National Council of La Raza, summed up the advocate groups' reaction to Hispanic Link News Service: "(Bush) should've made it more balanced, between reform and enforcement."

Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum, told Hispanic Link, "He made it clear that an enforcement-only approach is insufficient." But she added with regard to the guest worker program, "There hasn't been a lot of progress in selling the details."

Under the administration's tentative plan, the workers would be able to register for legal status for a fixed period of time, then be required to return home. The proposal has failed to convince either side in the immigration debate, albeit for different reasons.

Rep. Hilda Solís (D-Calif.) told Hispanic Link it is necessary to "first address the issue of the 10 to 11 million undocumented people that are currently in the country and to come up with a system that is earned legalization. It's not amnesty."

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, reacted strongly in a statement: "The president's plan is nothing more than a massive illegal alien amnesty on a six-year time delay, while his temporary worker program which will be anything but temporary is the death knell of America's middle class."

The National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Immigration Forum stressed to Hispanic Link that any solution involving undocumented immigrants must offer a pathway to permanent residency for it to work.

Bush's heavy emphasis on enforcement was seen as a compromise to appease his conservative base in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is pressing for an enforcement-only approach, Kelley said.

Eighty-five percent of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in this country hail from Mexico, Bush pointed out. During his Tucson speech, he announced a program called "interior repatriation" to fly those who were apprehended back to Mexico and then bus them to their hometowns.

Last year, only eight percent of those returned to Mexico through pilot repatriation programs have tried to cross the border again, he said, adding, "When people violate immigration laws, they're going to be sent home, and they need to stay at home."

His plan to repatriate non-Mexicans included more beds at detention facilities to decrease the practice of "catch and release," when undocumented immigrants are let go with court dates. It also included "expedited removal."

Bush further mentioned increasing manpower, technology, and infrastructure, including additional barriers along the U.S-Mexico border. He also called for greater interior enforcement through programs such as "Basic Pilot," an automated system to reduce document fraud.

The president only briefly mentioned the need for a guest-worker program, reiterating his opposition to grant amnesty. However, he mentioned his support for "increasing the number of annual green cards that can lead to citizenship."

(Ambar Espinoza is a reporter with Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C. She may be contacted by e-mail at ambar.espinoza@gmail.com)

© 2005, Hispanic Link News Service
12/11/05
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