Huntsman preparing immigrant proposals

Immigration reform was spotlighted Monday by President Bush, just as Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. works on his own plan to deal with undocumented workers — and readies for a controversial visit this week by the Mexican ambassador to the U.S.

"This is clearly a federal issue. However, it has tremendous state impacts," said Mike Mower, the governor's deputy chief of staff, noting the president's guest-worker plan is just one of the proposals Congress will consider early next year.

"A lot of ideas will be floated," Mower said, including whatever Huntsman and his fellow Western governors agree to support. The president's plan "is something he and other governors will review."

President Bush made a new pitch for his guest-worker plan Monday in Tucson, Ariz., and called for tighter security along the nation's borders with Mexico. Bush has tried to sell his plan to Congress for more than a year, but it faces opposition, especially in border states.

The president wants to allow undocumented aliens to get three-year work visas that could be extended an additional three years. After the extension expires, they would have to return to their home countries for at least a year before seeking a new visa.

"This program would help meet the needs of a growing economy, and it would allow honest workers to provide for their families while respecting the law," Bush said. "This plan would also help us relieve pressure on the border by creating a legal channel for those who enter America to do an honest day's labor."

With the Senate deciding to set aside immigration proposals until early next year, Huntsman has time to put together his own proposal on immigration for the Western Governors' Association to consider at its next meeting in February.

There are no specifics yet, but Huntsman "feels as a governor that key areas need to be addressed, such as border security, a guest-worker policy and a clearer definition of the pathway toward citizenship," Mower said.

A problem the governors may have with the president's guest-worker plan is that it raises questions about what assurances there would be that participants would leave the United States when their visas expire.

Huntsman got involved in the immigration issue after a visit earlier this year to Mexico City. The governor was there to sell Mexican President Vicente Fox on establishing an alliance with Utah to promote trade as well as cultural and educational exchanges.