In his annual state-of-union address yesterday, Bush appealed to the Congress to overhaul immigration laws to let in temporary workers and legalise illegal aliens.
"Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes to immigration," he told the Congress. "Let us have a serious, civil and conclusive debate." The time was right for a balanced approach to immigration, "without animosity and without amnesty", he said.
Bush said the US Border Patrol was being doubled in size compared to 2001, to 18,000 agents, and new funding was available for infrastructure and technology to secure the borders. "There would also be tougher prosecutions and higher fines for employers of undocumented workers."
"Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border -- and that requires a temporary worker programme," Bush said.
"We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis.
The US President also asked the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants inside the country to be given a chance to become legal, provided they pay a fine and start the process of gaining citizenship from scratch.
