In November, Arizona voters approved a ballot initiative requiring proof of citizenship or legal residency for people to access a wide array of government services. The measure passed despite the opposition of some of the state's most powerful elected officials.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who opposed the ballot initiative, has argued that enforcement measures alone will not solve the illegal immigration problem. "If anyone believes that simply strengthening our borders is the answer to our nation's illegal immigration problem, they don't understand the problem," he said as the Senate passed the intelligence bill last month. "Where there's a demand, there's going to be a supply."
Bush, who often points out that he was confronted with the complicated politics surrounding illegal immigration when he was governor of Texas, outlined plans for a temporary-worker program in the early days of his presidency, but they were shelved after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The president again outlined his principles for immigration 11 months ago, but the issue rarely surfaced during the campaign. The White House has put it back on the table since Bush's reelection, in which some exit polls found Bush winning more than 40 percent of the Hispanic vote.
"I fully understand the politics of immigration reform. I was the governor of Texas, right there on the front lines of border politics," Bush said. "I know what it means to have mothers and fathers come to my state and across the border of my state to work. Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River, is what I used to tell the people of my state."
McCain, who is planning his own immigration legislation that would couple a guest-worker program and a sharp increase in the number of permanent resident slots available to unskilled workers with tougher enforcement provisions, met with Bush on the subject in the days after the election. Such a measure would likely be successful only with bipartisan support.
Some advocacy groups who champion comprehensive immigration changes are less concerned about the sentiment among House Republicans than they are about Bush's commitment to the issue. Although Bush talks movingly about the subject, they say, he has yet to expend any political capital to push his proposal.
"It's not the House Republicans that so far has not been coming through on immigration reform," said Ana Avendano, associate general counsel and director of the Immigrant Worker Program for the AFL-CIO. "It's been the White House."
Staff writer Charles Babington contributed to this report.
