Is Bush's plan for illegal immigrants 'practical,' or amnesty?

President Bush's proposal calls for immigrants to return to their home countries and pay $10,000 to obtain a three-year work visa to reenter the US legally.

from the April 11, 2007 edition

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WASHINGTON - With a call Monday for a "practical answer" to dealing with illegal immigrants already in the US, President Bush did what Congress's Democratic leadership had urged him to do: go first.

By stepping out front on immigration reform, the president signaled his readiness to take on an issue many here see as toxic, roiling lawmakers of the same party, neighbors on the same street, and the business community.

Whether Mr. Bush can deliver enough votes to push through the broad reform law he wants is what Democrats are asking, knowing he has been battered by the Iraq war and has lost influence even within his own party. Democrats say he needs at least 25 Republicans in the Senate and 70 in the House for it to have a shot at passing – and for them to bring a bill to the floor.

Bush's proposal – the product of weeks of negotiation with GOP senators – would require immigrants in the United States illegally to return to their home countries and pay what Bush called a "meaningful penalty" to qualify to work legally in the US or apply for citizenship. It also would create a temporary guestworker program.

Bush laid out his argument in support of that plan Monday, during a stop at a newly fortified border crossing in Yuma, Ariz. His aim: to win over those lawmakers who see eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants as a quasi-amnesty, a reward for breaking the law.

"It is impractical to take the position that, 'Oh, we'll just find the 11 million or 12 million people and send them home.' That's just an impractical position. It's not going to work," Bush said.

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