Strong "No" To Amnesty

No to amnesty but instead, Bush will likely propose a "repreive" for the workers with temporarily misplaced papers. I'm still laughing about the Mexican government saying that they don't promote illegal immigration. Only two months ago, they begun handing out maps of the Arizona desert. Shortly before that they publish a comic for tips about how to cross illegally...but they don't do anything to promote illegal immigration. Do they think we are stupid? Wait, don't answer that.

President George W. Bush said he was opposed to amnesty or automatic citizenship for the some 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Amid an intense debate over the issue among US lawmakers, Bush on Tuesday ruled out amnesty for illegal immigrants but said he favored a "guest worker" program that would provide legal status for workers for a limited time period. "In my judgment, amnesty would be the wrong course of action," Bush told a news conference.

He said "a whole industry" of exploitation had emerged with workers being smuggled across the US border in dangerous conditions.

"The best way to do something about it is to say that if an American won't do a job and you can find somebody who will do the job, they ought to be allowed to do it legally on a temporary basis," Bush said.

Asked about those undocumented workers who have lived in the US for more than a decade, Bush said: "One of the issues is going to be to deal with somebody whose family has been here for a while, raised a family, and that'll be an interesting debate.

"My answer is: That person shouldn't get automatic citizenship."

Bush's comments came as a showdown looms in Congress over rival proposals on immigration reform and a day after the Mexican government bought full-page advertisements in major US newspapers to set out their stance on the issue.

"Mexico does not promote undocumented migration," the advertisement read in the New York Times and other newspapers.