Anger at Bush's immigrants plan

President George Bush’s plan to grant legal status – at least temporarily – to millions of illegal immigrants working in the United States has provoked anger from all sides.

The sweeping policy overhaul, outlined last night with few details, was criticised by many in the president’s conservative Republican base of support, and by campaign groups who questioned whether it would do much to help immigrants.

Democrats were united in calling the plan a political ploy which offers a false promise of legitimacy for the illegal workers.

Decrying a system that now has “millions of hardworking men and women condemned to fear and insecurity in a massive undocumented economy”, Bush urged Congress to approve a temporary worker programme.

The programme would be open to all illegal workers now in the US. Applicants who can show they have a job – or for those still in their home countries, a job offer – would get an initial three-year work permit which would be renewable for an unspecified period.

“We should have immigration laws that work and make us proud. Yet today we do not,” Bush said in the White House’s East Room, which he entered to loud cheers from dozens of representatives from Hispanic organisations and immigration groups.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch praised Bush for opening the debate and said a new immigration policy should “extend a welcoming hand to those whose presence will benefit our nation and our economy”.

Allowing undocumented workers, who make up an unknown percentage of the approximately eight million illegal immigrants now in the United States, to work legally would benefit all Americans, Bush argued.

He said it would make US borders more secure by allowing officials to focus more on the real threats to the country and would meet employers’ dire need for workers willing to take the low-wage, low-skill jobs not wanted by many Americans.

But even as Bush made the announcement, the tough sales job ahead for the White House was apparent as the president’s plan drew heated criticism from both the right and the left.

“I’m not for allowing illegals to stay in this country,” said Republican Representative Virgil Goode of Virginia. “I think they should have to go back to their home countries … and get in line with Jack, Suzy and John and apply for a guest worker position.”

Texas Republican Representative Lamar Smith claimed the Bush plan would make it harder to win the war on terrorism. ”Guest worker programmes and gradual amnesty provide cover for terrorists,” he said.

With about half the illegal immigrants estimated to be from Mexico, the programme was designed in part to win Bush increased support among the powerful Hispanic voting bloc in the November presidential election. He won just over one-third of that constituency in 2000.

It also was aimed at smoothing the US’s sometimes-rocky relations with Mexico ahead of a visit by Bush there next week.

But the plan was not the broad and immediate amnesty program that Mexican President Vicente Fox has wanted, and the Mexican government’s response was tepid. Fox, after a call from Bush outlining the plan, called it merely “very interesting”.

John Gay, co-chairman of the Essential Workers Immigration Coalition, a group of businesses and trade associations which pushed for immigration reform, said the president ”has gotten the big things right” but was worried about the details.

Democratic Representative Bob Menendez of New Jersey, House Democratic Caucus chairman and the highest-ranking Hispanic in Congress, said few immigrants would want to participate in the programme because they knew they would be deported after their term is up.

Bush’s principles say “he wants their sweat and labour, but he ultimately doesn’t want them”, Menendez said.