Bush outlines border proposal

WASHINGTON -- President Bush outlined a $1.9 billion border enforcement plan last night that will deploy 6,000 new National Guard troops to the Mexican border, build new space in detention centers, and use high-tech identification cards to verify workers' status, as he seeks to generate momentum for a comprehensive remaking of the nation's immigration laws.

In a prime-time speech, the president said guardsmen will arrive in border states early next month, augmented by upgraded technology and stricter detention policies to stem the tide of undocumented immigrants. Bush called for linking his proposal to the biggest domestic policy item on his agenda: an overhaul of the immigration system that includes a new ''guest worker" program for those who want to come to the United States, and avenues for undocumented residents to become citizens.

''America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time," Bush said in his nationally televised address from the Oval Office, his first to discuss a domestic policy matter. ''We will fix the problems created by illegal immigration, and we will deliver a system that is secure, orderly, and fair."

Bush said the National Guard won't police the border, and will support the US Border Patrol, assisting in intelligence gathering, processing paperwork, and installing fences to free up Border Patrol agents to guard the front lines. He said the Guard will be on the border only until the federal government hires and trains 6,000 additional Border Patrol agents by the end of 2008. That would bring the Border Patrol force to 18,000 -- twice what it was when Bush took office in 2001.

The president urged Congress to authorize $327 million to build detention spaces for those who are caught trying to sneak into the country, and he proposed new training for state and local authorities to help strengthen the borders. He called for tamper-proof identification cards to stop employers from hiring workers illegally.

But Bush said tighter border security will work only if the country also accommodates the demand for jobs by providing new ways for foreign nationals to live and work legally in the United States.

Would-be immigrants ''walk across miles of desert in the summer heat, or hide in the back of 18-wheelers to reach our country," Bush said. ''To secure the border effectively, we must reduce the numbers of people trying to sneak across."

The president stepped into the immigration debate at a critical time: The House recently passed an immigration bill, the Senate began a debate yesterday on the issue. Bush's popularity ratings are languishing near historic lows. The Senate's debate centers on a comprehensive immigration bill that seems to fits the president's goals.

The bill would provide a path to citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants who are now in the United States and would grant favored status to those who have lived here for longer than five years. To achieve US citizenship, undocumented immigrants would have to pay fines and back taxes, learn English, and maintain steady work histories and clean criminal records.

Bush said the Senate's general approach is good ''middle ground," though his aides said the president is stopping short of endorsing a specific bill, so members of Congress can negotiate a deal. Any legislation that the Senate passes must be reconciled with a House-passed bill, which only added muscle to border enforcement, including building a wall along the border and increasing the punishment for illegal immigration.

''That middle ground recognizes that there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently, and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record," he said.

Though the Senate measure enjoys support among Democrats and some Republicans, many GOP conservatives are upset over provisions that they say reward lawbreakers. House conservatives applauded the deployment of National Guard troops, but blasted the president for endorsing what they describe as ''amnesty" for illegal immigrants.

Most Republicans offered measured endorsements of the president's speech, and praised him for seeking to strengthen border enforcement. But they were generally silent on the more controversial areas of Bush's proposal, including his call for guest workers and paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Allowing undocumented immigrants to become citizens ''would dishonor legal immigrants who came here the right way, and it would only encourage more illegal immigration," said Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who is the leader of a hard-line anti-immigration group in Congress.

Some Democrats largely welcomed Bush's participation in the immigration debate, but they questioned whether the National Guard -- already under stress from fighting in two wars, and whose members are better suited for military missions than border enforcement -- is the right solution.

''The administration must resist its first impulse to address every challenge by calling in the troops," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who has helped craft the Senate immigration bill. ''The National Guard already is stretched to the limit by repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as from providing disaster assistance in their own states."

Senate minority leader Harry Reid said when it comes to immigration, Bush has a ''credibility problem." Since he's been unable to seal the borders. He said Bush needs to spell out his proposals in more detail. ''For 5 1/2 years, this is an issue President Bush has largely ignored," said Reid, a Nevada Democrat. ''He needs to tell us how he's going to fix a border and an immigration system that are suffering from his neglect."

The fact that Bush emphasized border enforcement speaks to his need to assuage skeptical conservatives, the biggest impediment in Congress to passing an immigration bill.

Bush bemoaned the negative effect illegal immigration is having on society, blaming it for overburdened schools, overworked hospital emergency rooms, and contributing to the crime rate. In a veiled reference to massive, nationwide immigrant-rights protests -- featuring Latin American flags and songs and banners in Spanish -- the president stressed the importance of having immigrants ''assimilate into our society" with English as the touchstone.

''Americans are bound together by our shared ideals, an appreciation of our history, respect for the flag we fly, and an ability to speak and write the English language," he said.

Before the speech, White House officials said the president's decision to send the Guard to the border is a dramatic step that signals how seriously he's taking the issue. ''It's really more about political opportunity than about political cover," said Bush press secretary Tony Snow. ''The cliche is right: good policy is good politics."

Deployments will be based on agreements reached between the governors of border states and other states that are willing to send troops on a temporary basis, the White House said. Officials said most of the 6,000 slots will be filled by guardsmen who will rotate to border areas during their annual training commitments of two or three weeks per year.

As many as 150,000 troops could be used at some point over the next two years, but the short deployments should not take away from guard units' other functions, said Frances Fragos Townsend, Bush's homeland security adviser.

The plans only apply to the four states that border Mexico, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Bush aides said that is because only states along the southern border have asked for federal assistance. Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.