Waco(Texas): President George W Bush tried to balance differences in his Republican Party over illegal immigration by rejecting amnesty and calling for a hardened Mexico border.
Fueled by fears of terrorists entering the US, Americans have become increasingly worried about illegal immigration. More than three-quarters think the government is not doing enough to control the borders, according to a CBS News poll in November.
At Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Bush portrayed his proposed temporary worker program, which many Republicans say rewards lawbreakers and provides 'backdoor amnesty' as a way to relieve pressure on enforcement by bringing illegal migrants 'out of the shadows.'
"There's a lot of opinions on this proposal. The program that I proposed would not create an automatic path to citizenship. It wouldn't provide amnesty," Bush said.
On enforcement, he pledged to harden the border with increased manpower and new technology including unmanned aerial surveillance.
Bush has a fine line to walk between playing to the demands of his Conservative base for tougher enforcement and the Republican Party's desire to court the votes of Hispanics.
The issue is expected to play a major role in many state elections next year.
Each year, more than 1 million undocumented migrants try to slip across the rivers and deserts on the 2,000 mile US-Mexico border in search of work in the US.
Shifting attention from Iraq
The speech shifted attention momentarily away from Bush's political troubles over Iraq.
But at an evening fundraiser for Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl in Phoenix, Bush defended the war and renewed his attack on Senate Democrats for sending what he called 'mixed messages' to US troops.
Bush said it would create incentives for legal immigration, serve national security interests by identifying who was in the country and provide a boost to the economy.
Republican critics prefer to crack down on illegal immigration with beefed up border patrols, the military and fences.
The US House of Representatives plans to take up the immigration issue soon but has scheduled action only on border security, leaving the temporary worker program for a later date.
The Senate will consider more comprehensive reform in February.
The problem reached such epic proportions when Arizona and New Mexico declared states of Emergency, saying tens of thousands of illegal migrants were endangering border security.
Angry residents have formed armed teams called Minutemen to watch over the border and a movement has sprung up among conservatives to wall off its entire length with a high-tech fence.
More than two-dozen members of the US Congress have signed on to the idea.
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