US: President George Bush has dismissed a mass deportation of America's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants as unrealistic and called on Congress to unite around a Senate compromise deal that unravelled earlier this month.
Speaking in Irvine, California, yesterday, Mr Bush praised the Senate proposal, which would allow most illegal immigrants to remain in the US but said he favoured a temporary guest worker programme rather than an automatic path to citizenship.
"I know this is an emotional debate. But the one thing we cannot lose sight of is we're talking about human beings, decent human beings. Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic. It's not going to work," he said.
Mr Bush will meet senators from both parties today as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing to examine the economic impact of a large-scale guest worker programme.
Republicans are deeply divided over the issue, with most of the party's members of the House of Representatives favouring measures to tighten border security and crack down on those who employ illegal immigrants, but opposing a guest worker programme, which they describe as an amnesty.
Mr Bush said that illegal immigrant should not get an automatic right to citizenship but should join the queue for green cards allocated by country. He said the border could be made more secure, but argued that a guest worker programme would contribute to improving the situation on America's southern border.
"You can be a nation of law and a compassionate nation at the same time," he said.
The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform yesterday welcomed Mr Bush's comments as a sign that the president is starting to play a more pro-active role in the whole immigration debate.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan yesterday blamed Senate Democrat leader Harry Reid for the unravelling of the Senate immigration deal.
"This is a difficult issue, it's a complex issue, and the fact of the matter is that the senators came together, senators of both parties had a promising solution to move forward on comprehensive reform. And one person stood in the way of that moving forward."
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter said this week that he believes senators will agree a compromise when they return to the immigration issue next month, but he added that even if senators pass a Bill with a guest worker programme, it will be difficult to marry that Bill with the tough, anti-immigration measure passed by the House of Representatives.