Immigration Continues to be Hot Button Issue as Congressional Elections Approach, Republicans Worried

The Associated Press Reported today that:

President George W. Bush needs to be more specific about the kind of immigration reform legislation he supports if he hopes to win passage of a new law in an election year, a key Republican senator said on Tuesday.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, who supports a bipartisan compromise that stalled in the Senate earlier this month, told reporters Bush should "be specific about what is good ... and what he doesn't like" in the bill.

Bush, who is pushing to revive the legislation in hopes of signing a bill before the November congressional elections, was meeting with Graham and other key senators later on Tuesday to discuss it.

Lawmakers, especially Republicans, are divided over Bush's proposal to create a guest worker program. Many also disagree with another provision in the stalled bill that would give an estimated 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States a chance to earn citizenship.

Many Republicans oppose any measure that could be seen as forgiving or rewarding people who broke U.S. laws by entering or remaining in the country without legal papers. Instead, they want to concentrate on border security and enforcement of laws banning illegal immigrants from working.

That was the approach taken by the U.S. House of Representatives in a bill that would define illegal immigrants as felons, which has provoked large demonstrations by Hispanics and their supporters across the country.

But House Republican leaders say their constituents are demanding a tough approach.

"Until you strengthen the borders and begin to enforce the laws, we're not making any progress," said House Majority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. "Americans are very upset about the porous nature of our borders."

Bush says he does not support giving guest workers or illegal immigrants automatic citizenship, but lawmakers say they are unsure what that means. On Monday he said the details of a temporary guest worker program would have to be worked out "in the halls of Congress."

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Bush, who has ruled out a "massive deportation" of illegal immigrants, needs to take a position on what should happen to the illegal immigrants living in the country.

"The president can no longer straddle the fence. He's going to have to make a decision how he feels about the 12 million people who are here," Reid said.

The complete story may be found here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060425/pl_nm/usa_immigration_dc_8