President Bush pressed for comprehensive immigration reform in his State of Union address Tuesday night, urging US lawmakers to take action to secure US borders, enhance interior and worksite enforcement of immigration laws, create a temporary worker program, resolve "without animosity or amnesty" the status of illegal immigrants already in the US, and promote assimilation.
The call contained in a speech otherwise focused on Iraq and various domestic initiatives on health care, energy and education follows the failure of House and Senate negotiators to come up with agreed legislation in the last Republican-dominated session of Congress despite earlier presidential urgings. Observers suggest bipartisan agreement on key points is more likely under new Democratic leadership, although perhaps without the same emphasis on strict enforcement measures like border fencing that proved controversial earlier this year, although the President did sign a law authorizing a 700-mile-long barrier along the Mexican border.President Bush also called on members of the Senate to give his latest judicial nominees what he labeled a "fair hearing" and a "prompt up-or-down vote," saying that he and lawmakers have a shared obligation to ensure that vacancies in the federal courts are filled.
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