Bush to Visit Mexican Border in Effort to Garner Support for Guest Worker Program

USA Today is reporting President Bush's trip to the Arizona/Mexico border Monday. President Bush is making the trip in light of recent protests of his guest worker program. "President Bush visits the Arizona-Mexico border Monday as aides try to persuade skeptical congressional Republicans to support an immigration bill to allow temporary 'guest workers.' Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez are heading negotiations that currently focus on Senate Republicans, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. Stanzel declined to detail the talks. He said that during today's trip to Yuma, Ariz., Bush 'will discuss his commitment to working with members to get legislation to his desk this year.' Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said one item under discussion is a 'touchback' provision. It would require illegal immigrants to return to their countries of origin at least briefly and pay a 'hefty fine' before being able to return to the USA under any guest-worker program." (USA Today article)

It is the 'touchback' provision that has sparked the most outrage, and indeed, the protests in California. "News reports of fines as high as $10,000 helped trigger protests Saturday in Los Angeles. Marchers carried signs saying 'Amnesty Now!' and 'Love Thy Neighbor, Don't Deport Him.' Bush visited Yuma last May 18, three days after delivering a nationally televised address on immigration. The administration proposed what it called 'comprehensive immigration reform,' combining tighter border enforcement with a temporary guest-worker plan to address illegal immigrants already in the USA without forcing them to first leave the country." (USA Today article)

Bush's last visit to Yuma, Arizona, however, was made under friendlier political conditions in the United States. "Congress was under Republican control at the time. The Senate passed a bipartisan bill backed by Bush that would have allowed illegal immigrants to remain in the USA and apply for citizenship, as along as they were working and learning English. The House supported a version that called for tighter border control. Republicans such as Rep. Brian Bilbray of California likened guest-worker programs to amnesty for lawbreakers. Now that Democrats have taken control of Congress, the White House is trying again. The administration is trying to unite Republicans behind a revised proposal. On Sunday, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who last year supported the Senate bill backed by Bush, said comprehensive reform 'is possible only with strong Republican support. Only a bipartisan bill will actually become law.'" (USA Today article)

Today, it is unclear just how much bipartisan support the current version of the bill has. What is clear is that the issue needs to be addressed. "During a trip to Mexico last month, Bush said he opposes amnesty and automatic citizenship, but simply 'kicking people out of the United States' is not a 'realistic solution.' He said, 'There's got to be a middle ground, a reasonable way' to deal with the 12 million illegal immigrants who are already in the country and working.'" (USA Today article) The issue of illegal immigration is sure to be a touchstone of the 2008 Presidential election.