President George Bush today reiterated his staunch call for Congress to do something and act on the failed comprehensive immigration reform bill, an issue that has not died down ever since it was defeated in Congress a couple of months back.
In his State of the Union Address broadcast live nationwide, Bush has urged Congress to push through with the enactment of an immigration reform bill that would allow foreign workers to come and contribute to the U.S. economy, rather than just allow them to cross the borders and ports without any proper documentation. Likewise, he added that illegal immigrants should be treated humanely like everybody else.
At the same time, he signified plans to increase the present number of border patrol agents to protect and secure the porous border with neighboring Mexico, which has become an entry point for thousands of illegal immigrants who sneak through at various points at any given day.
The president has revived his call to strengthen border security in order to prevent terrorist plotters and drug and human smugglers from sneaking inside to sow terror and aggravate the home grown problems inside the United States.
Bush has batted hard for the enactment of the country’s comprehensive immigration bill in an attempt to legalize the stay of the more than 12 million illegal immigrants, comprising mostly of Hispanics, and allowing them to apply for U.S. citizenship, after requiring them to pay their tax penalties and other fees to the federal government.
However, with the national elections a few months away and the presidential campaign primary sorties in progress, there is no doubt that lawmakers will be up to something else other than deliberating priority bills that need immediate attention and scrutiny before they are finally approved for proper implementation.
And whoever will be nominated to represent both political parties in the coming presidential polls this year, there is no assurance that the programs and policies being pushed by President Bush will ever be given enough attention and be carried through to the Capitol. By that time, the American public will just be waiting in the wings to see for themselves if the next president will be much better and effective.