…for the Immigration Policy Center…
As President Bush acknowledged in his January 7 speech on immigration reform, current U.S. policies toward undocumented immigration are unsustainable. In outlining his administration’s proposal for a temporary worker program that would include undocumented immigrants already living in the United States, the president observed that immigration reform “must begin by confronting a basic fact of life and economics: some of the jobs being generated in America’s growing economy are jobs American citizens are not filling.” He described a broken system in which many employers are “turning to the illegal labor market,” while “we see millions of hard-working men and women condemned to fear and insecurity in a massive, undocumented economy.” Crucial aspects of the president’s proposal remain unclear, such as the fate of millions of undocumented workers who have lived in the United States for many years or even decades, developing deep roots in their communities and raising U.S.-born children…
