President George W. Bush Continues Immigration Reform Push

According to a press release from the United States White House, President George W. Bush spoke out about immigration reform Tuesday morning. President Bush's comments came as the Senate prepared to revive the Immigration Bill.

President Bush pledged that his administration would help work on a bill that he considered to be in the country's best interest. To that end the president offered to have two cabinet members engage in talks to help the senators tweak legislation.

"The first thing that we've got to recognize in the country is that the system isn't working. The immigration system needs reform. The status quo is unacceptable. Most Americans understand that," President Bush said.

President Bush touched briefly on the troubled topic of immigration legislation that was passed in 1986. The legislation promised reform, and sought to be a permanent fix to the problem of illegal immigration. However, the act granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants already in the country. This portion of the legislation has drawn fire from legislators ever since, and has caused many to be wary of passage of the current immigration bill.

"They say, well, we attempted to reform the system in 1986, and the reform didn't work. Our view is, if the status quo is unacceptable, we need to replace it with something that is acceptable, and have been working toward that end with both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. The reason the Senate, of course, is that we'll be moving our attention to the House when it passes a comprehensive piece of legislation," President Bush stated, according to the press release.

President Bush stressed that the current immigration bill would allocate money and resources to strengthen the security of the United States border with Mexico. However, the President took care to point out that he felt increased security would not be enough to stop immigrants from entering the United States illegally. He suggested that there needed to be a program that allowed immigrants to temporarily fill jobs that the President claimed Americans are not doing.

The proposed bill addresses that issue by outlining steps for immigrants currently living in the United States illegally to seek legal citizenship. President Bush stressed that this portion of the bill was involved, and that there would be penalties for illegal immigrants; he claimed these conditions ensured that the portion of the bill was not a blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants.

President Bush stated: "There are people who live in our neighborhood and around the world who are desperate to provide food for their families, and recognize there are available jobs, and they will do anything to come to our country to work, because they want to fight off the poverty and starvation that has affected their loved ones.", according to the press release.

"It's a powerful incentive to be a mom or a dad to make sure your children don't suffer. That's an incentive. That's an incentive for people here in America; it also happens to be an incentive for people around the world. And, therefore, people will be willing to go extra lengths to avoid border security. They'll be willing to be crammed in the bottom of 18-wheelers. They fall prey to these coyotes who smuggle human beings to achieve profit," Bush said.

The resident also called attention to a portion of the current immigration bill that will make English the official language of the United States. The President did not go into particulars regarding the proposed change, but saw it as an aspect of the United State's ability to assimilate immigrants.

Sources:

The United States White House