Here We Go Again: Guestworker Amnesty Program Back on the Table

11/26/02 -- FAIR

Just weeks after midterm elections, the Bush administration, Republican policy makers, and some editorial writers are already gearing up for another push to grant amnesty to Mexican illegal aliens. While careful to characterize the proposal as a "guestworker" program, there can be no mistaking the amnesty that is intended.

Tony Garza, the new U.S. ambassador to Mexico, floated the opening trial balloon last week. Garza told reporters in Mexico City that reaching an accord legalizing the status of illegal aliens from Mexico remains a Bush administration priority. The new Bush plan, Garza said, could offer legalized residency to as many as 15 percent of the illegal aliens who have been in the U.S. for more than 10 years. He anticipates that Congress will debate this matter as soon as the economy improves.

Over the weekend at the Republican Governors' meetings in California, Governor Bill Owens (R-CO) defended Bush's amnesty policies, stating, "It was never defined as amnesty for illegals so much as moving back to legalized work programs." On Monday morning, an editorial by Executive Editor Morton Kondracke of Roll Call, the influential Capitol Hill newspaper, warned Congressional Republicans about losses in Hispanic voter support unless immigration policies are "reformed."

While President Bush has yet to confirm these statements or release details of such a plan, the fact that his advisors believe re-election in 2004 depends heavily on the Hispanic vote, and his past push to grant amnesty to some 3 million illegal aliens from Mexico, indicates that this plan is real indeed.

We will keep you informed of further developments on the guestworker amnesty issue, as they are sure to arise in the near future.

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