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Bush tells Congress to find immigration deal

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 21, 2006

WASHINGTON - President Bush urged Congress on Saturday to find a middle ground between mass deportation or instant U.S. citizenship for the estimated 12-million illegal immigrants already living in America.

Bush's radio message was the third time this week he has spoken out about immigration.

On Monday, in a televised address from the Oval Office, Bush said he would order as many as 6,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S. border with Mexico, and urged Congress to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship.

Bush said the National Guard troops would fill in temporarily while the Border Patrol is expanded. He asked Congress to add 6,000 more Border Patrol agents by the end of his presidency and add 6,700 more beds so illegal immigrants can be detained while waiting for hearings.

Many congressional Republicans said they supported Bush's plan to use National Guard troops at the border. But he ran into criticism from some border state governors, Democrats and some other Republicans.

In the Democratic radio response, Rep. Mike Honda of California said Bush should denounce the approach of House Republicans, who won passage of a tough immigration bill that would erect fences along the Mexican border and treat people who sneak across as felons to be deported.

"The president's public relations campaign won't get the job done," Honda said about the proposals the president announced Monday.

Bush wants an immigration bill that pairs up better security on the border with a guest worker program.

He faces opposition from conservative Republicans, particularly in the House, who prefer a get-tough approach and largely oppose a guest worker program - something they view as giving amnesty to criminals. The Senate, meanwhile, is working on broad legislation that largely answers Bush's call.

[Last modified May 21, 2006, 07:31:42]