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Bush Commends Senate for Action on Immigration Reform Bill

By Jane Morse
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- President Bush commended the U.S. Senate on May 25 for passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill -- with bipartisan support -- before a May 29 deadline set by the Senate leadership.

In a brief statement, Bush said effective immigration reform will protect U.S. borders, require employers to account for the workers they hire, create a temporary-worker program to take pressure off the U.S. border and meet the needs of America's growing economy, address the issue of the millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States and "honor America's great tradition of the melting pot."  (See related article.)

The Senate's immigration bill, which was approved by a vote of 62 to 36, calls for illegal immigrants now living in the United States for less than two years to be returned to their home countries.

Those who have been in the United States two year to five years would be eligible to stay and work for another three years under a "deferred mandatory departure" provision.  They then would be required to leave, but could return to an entry point and apply for a guest-worker program.

Illegal immigrants who have been in the United States five years or longer would be eligible to become permanent legal residents in six years, and citizens five years after that.  In order to become citizens, they would be required to pay penalties and back taxes, learn English -- which the legislation declares the "national language" of the United States -- and pass a background check. 

Illegal immigrants who have committed one felony or three misdemeanors would be deported.

"[I]f you want to test the people who really want to be Americans -- I mean, really, really want to be Americans -- this is it," Tony Snow, the president's press secretary, told reporters in a May 25 briefing. 

The Senate bill also calls for a 596-kilometer fence to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border and the construction of more jails to house those awaiting deportation.

MORE LEGISLATIVE WORK AHEAD

The Senate's bill is considerably different from an immigration reform bill passed by the House of Representatives in December 2005.  The House bill dealt only with strengthening border control and workplace enforcement.  The Senate legislation takes a more comprehensive approach.

The issue now will move to a House-Senate conference committee, which will try to work out a compromise between the two versions.  Both sides expect the negotiations to be difficult.      

"The House of Representatives began a national dialogue," Bush noted in his statement.  "Now that the Senate has acted, I look forward to working together with both the House of Representatives and the Senate to produce a bill for me to sign into law."

The full text of the president's statement and the transcript of Snow's press briefing are available on the White House Web site.

For additional information, see Visas, Passports and Immigration.