No amnesty, Bush insists

WASHINGTON — President Bush and members of his Cabinet expressed strong support Thursday for the Senate's pending immigration bill, which they emphasized does not grant amnesty to those who are here illegally.

The Senate spent Thursday tweaking the legislation but will not have a final vote on the bill until after the weeklong Memorial Day recess, which starts Monday. The House will likely combine several of its own immigration bills into one piece of legislation before the two chambers meet to iron out the differences.

"This bill provides the best chance to reform our immigration system and help us make certain we know who's in our country and where they are," Bush said at a White House press conference Thursday. "Those who are looking to find fault with this bill will always be able to find something. If you're serious about securing our borders and bringing millions of illegal immigrants in our country out of the shadows, this bipartisan bill is the best opportunity to move forward."

Utah Republican Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch are still reviewing the lengthy and complicated piece of legislation, according to their offices. They have already received phone calls about the legislation and are likely to hear from constituents during their time in Utah next week.

The Senate narrowly rejected, 48-49, an amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that would have eliminated a temporary worker visa program after five years. Three senators did not vote. Hatch and Bennett voted against the amendment.

Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez told the Deseret Morning News he was happy the Senate defeated the amendment because the temporary worker visa program created in the pending bill fills the gap left by the last immigration reform bill passed in 1986.

There are imperfections in this bill but this is so much better than the status quo," Gutierrez said. "If we don't have this bill, then what are we left with? A very dysfunctional and a very unsustainable broken system."

In addition to the temporary worker visa program, the pending bill would toughen border security and establish an employment verification system to detect unauthorized workers and secure the borders. Those here illegally would pay a fine and have to learn English in order to stay, and those wishing to gain citizenship "would have to go to the back of the line."

"We define amnesty as an unconditional pardon," Gutierrez said in an interview. "This is not an unconditional pardon. There is no automatic path to citizenship."

Another key component of the bill is ending "chain migration" and moving toward a merit-based system of immigration policies.