Bush Pushes Immigration Plan in New Mexico
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Wednesday, June 7, 2006
ARTESIA, N.M., June 6 -- President Bush returned to the U.S.-Mexico border region Tuesday to tout what he described as a growing consensus around proposed immigration reforms and see firsthand how new border agents are being taught to keep people from entering the country illegally.
In Washington, House Republicans are showing little sign of meeting the president's demands on a comprehensive immigration plan. But appearing at the training facility here for border agents, Bush sounded an optimistic note that agreement is possible on plans to increase border security, crack down on employers hiring illegal immigrants and help immigrants assimilate into U.S. society.
"People are coming to the conclusion we got to do something about a system that isn't working," said Bush, clad in shirt sleeves in the searing sun. "And while the differences grab the headlines, the similarities in approaches are striking."
Bush broke little ground substantively in his speech to border agents and agents in training, repeating many of the same points he had made since announcing his general approach to immigration in a nationally televised address last month. But aides say he is trying to build grass-roots support in advance of negotiations aimed at reconciling House and Senate bills that take sharply different approaches toward undocumented workers.
The president is also trying quiet diplomacy. Joining Bush on Air Force One on the trip from Washington were two New Mexico representatives who have been critical of the president for various aspects of his plan, Democrat Tom Udall and Republican Steve Pearce. During the trip, Pearce said, the two received a briefing from David Aguilar, chief of the Border Patrol, who outlined a more aggressive approach to keeping illegal immigrants from entering New Mexico.
"They actually have begun to develop a comprehensive plan for securing the border which we have not seen before," Pearce said.
A key sticking point for Pearce and other House Republicans is the president's plan for resolving the status of millions of illegal immigrants already in this country. The bill approved by the Senate would allow illegal immigrants who have been here at least five years a way to become citizens if they pay fines and back taxes and learn English; the House plan would make illegal presence in this country a felony.
The president has been supportive of the Senate approach, and in his speech Tuesday indicated that he does not regard such an approach as "amnesty" because illegal immigrants would have to get behind legal immigrants in line for citizenship. He added: "If Congress is worried about the number of people getting in, they can decrease the number of green cards. . . . If you want a longer line for people, issue fewer green cards."
Despite Bush's growing emphasis on border security, House conservatives remain wary of any final bill that would make undocumented immigrants legal. Despite the president's statement, "most Americans" consider his plan to be amnesty, said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), a leading conservative. "There's just no support at home or in my heart."
But New Mexico's Democratic governor, Bill Richardson, who attended the speech here and met privately with Bush, said the president indicated he would deploy even more assets to overcome such doubts. "I came away with two strong impressions -- that he is sincerely eager to get a comprehensive bill, and that at the appropriate time he will weigh in heavily," Richardson said.
Before his speech here, Bush watched as agents in training staged various scenes depicting what it is like to work on the border. First was a document check of passengers on a bus, followed by agents scrambling over three train cars, yelling statements such as "All clear on the bottom" as lids and doors clanged. Bush also watched as agents staged a routine traffic stop, speaking in Spanish to a suspect who had his hands up while they trained on him what appeared to be plastic guns. He later flew to Laredo, Tex., to visit a regional Border Patrol facility. He watched screens monitoring different points on the border.
Earlier, he made an unannounced stop at Cotulla Style Pit Bar-B-Q, where he greeted diners in Spanish and English before sitting down with a dozen or so border agents around a long table. "Why don't we bring a couple of plates of nachos?" he asked.