Bush urged lawmakers to look at several factors and pass the legislation that would honor the American tradition of the "melting pot".
WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush has once again called on Congress to pass a controversial immigration reform bill that he said would help new immigrants assimilate, but is opposed by hardliners as giving amnesty to illegals.
In his weekly radio address, Bush urged lawmakers to look at several factors and pass the legislation that would honor the American tradition of the "melting pot".
"...we need comprehensive immigration reform that honors the American tradition of the melting pot by helping newcomers assimilate. Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, our history, and the ability to speak and write the English language. When immigrants assimilate, they advance in our society, realize their dreams, and add to the unity of America.
"We can fix the problem of illegal immigration and deliver an immigration system that is rational and compassionate," Bush said admitting that "rational and comprehensive" immigration reform must begin with border security.
The White House, over the last several months, has been a helpless bystander as hardline Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives have rejected the Senate Bill on Immigration reform that finds a way out for the twelve million plus illegals in this country.
Hardliners on both sides of the aisle especially from the Republican Camp have denounced what they see as "amnesty" to the illegals.
Tempers on Capitol Hill are so frayed that the House and the Senate Conferees are yet to sit down and find reconciliation between the two vastly different pieces of legislation.
The House version passed late last year has almost exclusively focussed on border enforcement. It has nothing on the H-1B visas either as contained in the Senate measure.
Bush stressed that in order to be successful, comprehensive immigration reform must accomplish other critical goals like a temporary worker programme.
"This program will add to our security by helping us know who is in our country and why they are here. And by reducing pressure on our border, it will free up our Border Patrol to focus on making sure we stop terrorists, violent criminals, and drug smugglers from entering our country."
Bush made it clear that the federal government will be cracking the whip on business houses that hire illegals.
"We need to enforce our immigration laws at our Nation's work sites. To enforce the law, we have launched raids on businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. We are filing criminal charges against these employers, and we are prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law."
Bush also used the opportunity to say that America had to resolve the status of those illegals already in this country. "They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it. Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully, and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration.
"We will find a rational middle ground between automatic citizenship for illegal immigrants and mass deportations of people who've been living here for many years with jobs, families, and deep roots in our country," he said.
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