George W. Bush

Last Updated: December 14, 2005

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The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500
202-456-1414

REDUCE LEGAL IMMIGRATION -- opposes

There is plenty of evidence of President Bush's support of increasing the number of legal immigrants who are allowed to enter our country each year.

On August 5, 2004, President Bush called on Congress to increase the number of Mexican immigrants allowed into the United States:

"I support raising the quotas on certain population groups, like the Mexican nationals, on who can become a citizen," Mr. Bush told a convention of minority journalists. "In order to solve the logjam for citizenship, Congress has got to raise the quotas." ["Bush: Raise limit for Mexico," Washington Times, 8/6/04]

President Bush's Guest Worker-Amnesty proposal of January 2004 called for increasing "green cards" for legal immigration -- even above the recent 1 million figure -- by a significant amount.

2004 ELECTION DEBATE QUESTION

On October 13, 2004, during his third debate with Senator John Kerry, President Bush was asked straightforwardly about his views on illegal immigration by moderator Bob Schieffer. His answer was ambivalent—Bush stated he had improved border security but likened illegal immigration to ta human rights issue:

SCHIEFFER: I got more e-mail this week on this question than any other question. And it is about immigration. I'm told that at least 8,000 people cross our borders illegally every day. Some people believe this is a security issue, as you know. Some believe it's an economic issue. Some see it as a human-rights issue. How do you see it? And what we need to do about it?

BUSH: "I see it as a serious problem. I see it as a security issue, I see it as an economic issue, and I see it as a human-rights issue. We're increasing the border security of the United States. We've got 1,000 more Border Patrol agents on the southern border. We're using new equipment. We're using unmanned vehicles to spot people coming across. And we'll continue to do so over the next four years. It's a subject I'm very familiar with. After all, I was a border governor for a while."

THE 2000 CAMPAIGN

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush's stance on reducing the current high levels of immigration appeared confused and easily swayed by emotion and the circumstances of the moment.

There is no indication that President Bush has thought much about the impact of high immigration numbers. But even back during the last campaign, he went on record as supporting an INCREASE in legal immigration. While campaigning in Iowa the first week of January 2000, Bush was asked by a reporter about an advertising campaign throughout the state which called for reduction of legal immigration numbers. The newspaper and TV ads emphasized the overall numbers and the massive U.S. population growth they were forcing. Bush was reported by the Cedar Rapids Gazette as having told the paper's editorial board that there is a "xenophobic, dark side of American politics. It's easy to pick on the downtrodden. It's easy to blame something on somebody else. ... We ought to increase legal immigration for our country's advantage. The high-tech world we are now dominating is dependent on educated folks, but we're short ... of workers." ["Bush blasts anti-immigrant forces," Cedar Rapids Gazette, Jan. 6, 2000]

Bush's response indicates that he sees the question of immigration in a kind of civil rights paradigm. In his view, immigration is about the "downtrodden," and any effort to reduce immigration is an act against vulnerable people. He did not acknowledge that many of the ads in Iowa were emphasizing the need to reduce immigration in order to help not only poor immigrants already here but lower-skilled native-born workers, as well. In his current definition of immigration issues, he has defined away the right of the American people to have a say of any kind in the number of immigrants coming into the country each year.

On the other hand, Bush's response was clearly a knee-jerk emotional one that did not reflect any deep policy positions. He seemed to be focused on the question of increasing H-1B visas for high-tech foreign workers. It is not at all clear whether he really believes that the vast majority of immigrants who are low-skill and poorly educated should be continued and increased.

But a little more than a week later in New Hampshire, Bush seemed much more uncertain about his position.

This was clear in an exchange in the high school cafeteria in Londonderry, N.H., on January 13 with Craig Nelsen, the head of ProjectUSA. This is Nelsen's report:

[NELSEN] Then Mr. Bush (surprisingly) called on me, and I stood up, and noting the figures released by the Census Bureau that very morning that we are being swamped even faster than we thought, I asked him how he could support an immigration policy that was fueling such needless and unwanted population growth. "This has nothing to do with 'anti-immigrant backlashes'," I told him, "but a lot of good, decent Americans do not want to see our country as overcrowded as China, India or Mexico. There is no reason for it," I continued, "and we just don't want it." Then I pointed to all the high school kids there and said it wasn't right that we pursue a policy that will double U.S. population in their lifetimes.

[NELSEN] He (Bush) started to re-condemn illegal immigration, but I told him that most of this current flood was legal. Then he started to talk about H-1B visas, and I told him most of the legal immigration was through "chain migration". He asked what "chain migration" was. I told him. He wasn't sure about that, and said he'd have to check up on that.

[NELSEN] Then I said, "How many Americans is enough? One billion? Two billion? Three billion?..." And then he said that he would have to review legal immigration policy.

CHAIN MIGRATION -- supports

On January 13, 2000 George W. Bush showed a basic lack of knowledge about the subject that will profoundly affect America for the rest of its history. Mr. Bush was answering audience questions in Londonderry, New Hampshire, when Craig Nelsen of ProjectUSA brought up the recently published Census Bureau projections. When he referred to the explosive quality of chain migration, the man who would be President replied, "Chain migration. I haven't heard that term before."

Nelsen responded with a brief explanation of how the family reunification policy now operative fosters a virtually endless stream of immigrants. (In 1996, 65 percent of legal immigrants entered under the chain migration category.)

Bush said that husbands should be united with wives. But he lost his bearings when he said that he wasn't sure whether current law permitted "cousins and in-laws." Of course when siblings, parents and children are included, that means by definition that cousins and in-laws are coming.

Bush appeared embarassed about being so obviously ignorant about an important policy isue. He also professed to not knowing about "the study" (meaning the Census projections, the first to make estimations for the whole century) and mumbled "I thought our replacement rate was at an all-time low."

Bush also did not want to answer Nelsen's question about what number should be the limit -- "One billion? Two?"
(Broadcast on C-SPAN 1/19/00)

VISA LOTTERY

Information not yet available. E-mail us anything you have.

CITIZENSHIP FOR ANCHOR BABIES OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

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AMNESTY: LONG WORK PERMITS FOR MOST ILLEGAL ALIENS -- supports

President Bush supports long work permits, which can be renewed indefinitely. Furthermore, he has offered no plan for ensuring these "temporary workers" return home.

BUSH'S LATEST GUEST WORKER-AMNESTY PROGRAM (See Recent News ABOVE)

Although the amnesty President Bush proposed on January 7, 2004, is not the two-step citizenship amnesty he advocated before, it is still a Basic Reward Amnesty.

It is helpful to outline three of the kinds of amnesty that can be given to foreign citizens who violate our country’s immigration laws to illegally take jobs here:

1. The Basic Amnesty: An illegal alien is sent back home but without receiving any penalties for having broken the law, such as fines, jail time or a 10-year exclusion from entering the country legally.

2. The Basic Reward Amnesty: Illegal aliens are rewarded with the very thing they broke the law to get—an American job.

3. The Jackpot Reward Amnesty: Illegal aliens not only are rewarded with the job that they broke the law to get but also are given one of the most prized possessions in the world — U.S. citizenship.

The White House seems to think because it isn’t offering a Jackpot Reward Amnesty that its proposal shouldn’t be called an amnesty. But the President’s proposal clearly is a Basic Reward Amnesty. Some 8-12 million illegal aliens broke our immigration laws to work illegally in this country (stealing jobs and wages from American workers), and nearly all of them would be rewarded by the Bush proposal with legal permits to keep the jobs they stole — at least for three years.

For a further analysis of President Bush's Guestworker-Amnesty, read Roy Beck's paper "Bush Immigration Proposal Built On Misconceptions" at http://www.numbersusa.com/press/BushPropAnal.html.

BUSH'S PREVIOUS AMNESTY POSITIONS

Since 1986, Congress had passed seven amnesties. The most recent amnesty proposal President Bush promoted, before his current amnesty plan, was the Section 245(i) amnesty. Go to section "Section 245(i) De Facto Amnesty for Illegals" below to read about President Bush's support of the 245(i) amnesty.

In May of 2002 the then INS, under direction of President Bush, announced a one-year extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for illegal aliens from Honduras and Nicaragua. The TPS designation was first adopted by the Clinton Administration following the devastation in Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998 caused by Hurricane Mitch. The rationale for the TPS was that deportation of the roughly 5,300 Nicaraguans and 105,000 Hondurans would be a hardship for the countries while they were recovering from the natural disaster. Now, because of the Bush extension of TPS, these estimated 110,000 illegal aliens were allowed to stay in the United States until July 2003.

In May of 2001, President Bush granted a one-year extension of Temporary Protected Status to Hondurans and Guatemalans who were already in the U.S. illegally by December 1998 when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras and Gutaemala. The one-year extension applies to about 5,300 Nicaraguans and 105,000 Hondurans who have already registered for Temporary Protection Status. In the 1990s, this pattern of continuing to grant Temporary Protected Status to Central Americans led to several amnesty proposals on the basis that they had put down roots in the U.S., and it would be unfair for them to be sent home.

His current amnesty plan is more in line with his July 1999 comments on the Spanish-language Univision TV network in which he indicated he wouldn't rule out an amnesty.

[For a history of President Bush's Anti-Amnesty Positions, click here.]

AMNESTY: CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGAL TEENAGERS

Position unknown . E-mail us anything you have.

SECTION 245(i) DE FACTO AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS -- supports

Before his Guestworker-Amnesty, the most recent amnesty proposal President Bush promoted was the Section 245(i) amnesty. In August of 2002 he wrote, "I expect to continue to work with Congress to ensure passage of Section 245(i) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, which would allow qualified immigrants, eligible to become legal residents, to obtain residency in the United States without being forced to leave the country and their families." What Bush does not make clear in his letter is that in nearly all cases, an alien must be an illegal alien in order to benefit from the Section 245(i) amnesty. Click here to read a 245(i) fact sheet.

IMPORT LOW-SKILLED WORKERS -- supports

President Bush's Guestworker-Amnesty program is basically a plan to import an unlimited number of low-skilled workers to work in agriculture.

REMARKS AT THE THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

In Tempe, Arizona, on October 13, 2004, the president gave this sympathetic analysis on low-skilled illegal immigration:

"Many people are coming to this country for economic reasons. They're coming here to work.

"If you can make 50 cents in the heart of Mexico, for example, or make $5 here in America, $5.15, you're going to come here if you're worth your salt, if you want to put food on the table for your families. And that's what's happening.

"And so in order to take pressure off the borders, in order to make the borders more secure, I believe there ought to be a temporary worker card that allows a willing worker and a willing employer to mate up, so long as there's not an American willing to do that job, to join up in order to be able to fulfill the employers' needs. That has the benefit of making sure our employers aren't breaking the law as they try to fill their workforce needs.

"It makes sure that the people coming across the border are humanely treated, that they're not kept in the shadows of our society, that they're able to go back and forth to see their families. See, the card, it'll have a period of time attached to it.

" It also means it takes pressure off the border. If somebody is coming here to work with a card, it means they're not going to have to sneak across the border. It means our border patrol will be more likely to be able to focus on doing their job."

BUSH'S LATEST GUEST WORKER-AMNESTY PROGRAM

At his 2003 year-end news conference, President Bush announced that he was preparing to send Congress recommendations for an "immigration policy that helps match any willing employer with any willing employee."

The Guest Worker-Amnesty program, proposed by Mr. Bush on January 7, 2004, would:

• Give an amnesty in the form of legal work permits to most of the 8-12 million illegal aliens now in the country.
• Allow all businesses to post any job in America on an internet website (presumably at any wage and working condition) and if an American doesn’t grab the job in a short time the business could import a foreign worker.
• All guest workers and illegal aliens would get a three-year work permit and could immediately and indefinitely renew those permits for three years at a time.
• Guest workers could bring their entire family with them for the duration of the work permit.
  There would be no upper limit to how many foreign workers are imported into the country at any time.

Bush's plan is based on a series of misconceptions about American workers and the U.S. labor market including:

• the misconception of full employment in the United States;
• the misconception of a burgeoning job market;
• the misconception that current American workers in meatpacking plants, agricultural fields, restaurants, hotels and constructions are paid too much; and
• the misconception that our scientists, engineers, computer programmers and other high-skilled professionals are fully employed and well-paid.
• The misconception that businesses are withering for lack of workers and are desperately seeking assistance.

[Click here to read Executive Director NumbersUSA Education & Research Foundation Roy Beck's full analysis of the President's proposal on American workers.]

This proposal ignores the fact that more than 14 million American workers cannot currently find a full-time job. This includes the officially unemployed, those who recently were officially looking for work and have given up and those who have had to settle for a part-time job. Furthermore, it misleadingly suggests that the majority of businesses are crying out for more workers. The National Federation of Independent Businesses, the largest business-membership organization in the country, surveyed its members in May 2002. Business owners oppose expansion of "temporary guest worker programs to ease worker shortages" by a nearly 3-1 margin. Only 24% favored expanding guest worker programs. Also, an amnesty for illegal aliens offering them long-term jobs is opposed by a more than 4-1 margin among business owners.

Clear up all of those misconceptions, and there is no possible justification for creating a massive additional flow of foreign workers into this country.

BUSH'S PREVIOUS POSITIONS ON IMPORTING LOW-SKILLED WORKERS

In the area of agriculture, President Bush has consistently favored the idea of a guest worker program (H-2A visas) which allows temporary agricultural workers into the country. His position does not reflect knowledge that in some areas America has an excess of farm labor, particularly in places like California's Central Valley. The unemployment is so high that the area has been called America's new Appalachia. Real wages have declined 25 percent for farmworkers over the last 20 years even though agricultural output has increased. While the unemployment rate in California dipped to 4.9 percent in September 1999, unemployment rates were above 20 percent in numerous Fresno County farmworker towns.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent numbers reflect that 140,000 American agricultural workers are out of work.

IMPORT HIGH-SKILLED WORKERS -- supports

President Bush has a history of supporting the importation of high-tech workers.

In July, 2001, President Bush said "I do believe, though, that when we find willing employer and willing employee, we ought to match the two...We ought to make it easier for people who want to employ somebody, who are looking for workers, to be able to hire people who want to work."

President Bush's official campaign website stated that he "supports lifting the current limit on H-1B visas." But it also says that he "believes long term solution to shortage of high tech workers is education, not immigration."

On January 13, 2002, at a campaign stop in Londonderry, New Hampshire, President Bush said he thought that H-1B visas should be increased to 200,000. (Broadcast on C-SPAN 1/19/00)

Also in 2002, a January 21st article in the San Franciso Chronicle analyzed the candidates' positions on the high-technology issues important to the area. Regarding the number of H-1B visas, it reported that President Bush supports raising the annual cap, saying that he wants to "send a message of welcome to earnest skilled workers from all over the world."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/01/20/MN44089.DTL

As part of his high-tech plan (8/5/99), Bush went into a bit more detail, although he did not specify how many H-1B workers he would permit or whether he would place a numerical limit on industry's demands at all. He said:

"Maintain the competitiveness of our high technology companies by allowing them to recruit more workers with special skills through an increase in the current limit on 'H-1B' visas. Temporary highly-skilled workers are admitted under H-1B visas, which in 1999 are limited to 115,000 (up from 65,000). The 115,000 cap for this year has already been reached, creating a situation that could hurt high tech industries that are currently facing a shortage of computer engineers, software programmers and technicians."

ABI Note: the current cap is back down to 65,000 but Congress has threatened to raise it under pressure from big business, despite the fact that thousands of computer engineers are unemployed. For more on this issue see: http://www.numbersusa.com/interests/hightech.html.

HIGHLY SECURED BORDER -- SUPPORTS/opposes

President Bush continues to talk tough on border security. The President's actions, unfortunately, have not matched his words.

Back in August 2002, President Bush wrote in a letter that he was "committed to improving U.S. immigration law enforcement, ensuring the security of our borders, and protecting Americans from terrorism." He also wrote, "As my Administration seeks to improve the system that welcomes legal immigrants, the United States must also continue its efforts to combat illegal immigration."

Recognizing the national security role of border control, the White House commented, "the massive flow of people and goods across our borders . . . can serve as a conduit for terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, illegal migrants, contraband, and other unlawful commodities."

President Bush has spoken on many occasions in favor of strengthening the border against illegal entry. He has called for better security along the borders and he supports Operation Hold the Line, a border strategy aimed at decreasing illegal immigration and drug importation.

In response to Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox's call for an open border between the U.S. and Mexico, President Bush responded in an interview, "We can't have open borders right now and I am not sure we could ever have open borders. The United States must enforce its borders." http://abcnews.go.com/onair/thisweek/transcripts/tw000716_bush_trans.html

On January 7, 2004, when Bush introduced his "Principles of Immigration Reform" to promote a more permeable southern border, his first principle was:

"Protecting the Homeland by Controlling Our Borders: The program should link to efforts to control our border through agreements with countries whose nationals participate in the program. It must support ongoing efforts to enhance homeland security."

Although the border patrol has been significantly increased during his administration (from 9,788 on September 11, 2001 to 10,835 on December 1, 2003), the size still has not reached a level that can be effective in significantly slowing the current flow of hundreds of thousands of illegal alien crossers each year. President Bush has refused to use the military to back up the border patrol in a concerted fashion even though on the few occasions he has done so in a limited area, the illegal traffic was reported to have slowed to a trickle. Because Bush has declined to use his authority to employ the military in backup (and not police) duties to augment the work of the Border Patrol, during his administration the U.S. House has passed resolutions urging him to use the military THREE times.

VIGOROUS WORKER VERIFICATION -- SUPPORTS

President Bush signed, S. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003, on December 3, 2003.

It will extend for five years the workplace employment eligibility authorization pilot programs created in 1996. It will also expand the pilot programs from the original five states to all 50 states. Thus, all employers in the United States will have the option of participating, although the program would remain voluntary.

This program is an important component of preventing illegal aliens from taking jobs from those who have the legal right to work in this country. By December of 2004, every business in America will have a nearly sure-fire way to verify if a new employee is an illegal alien or has the right to work in America. Most importantly, no business in America will have an excuse for hiring illegals.

FEDERAL AND LOCAL COOPERATION TO REMOVE ILLEGAL ALIENS -- opposes/SUPPORTS

President Bush and his administration have demonstrated deep ambivalence on all interior enforcement issues. On the one hand they have instituted sweeps for illegal aliens and encouraged joint task forces. On the other hand, Under Secretary for Border & Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson, who has done some good things with regard to border control and interior enforcement, recently said that he does not believe it is "realistic" to think that law-enforcement authorities can arrest or deport the millions of illegal aliens now in the United States and does. He went on to say that he does not believe the American public has the will to "uproot" illegal aliens. Hutchinson added that a recent suggestion that no law-enforcement officials are looking for the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens thought to be in the U.S. is "probably accurate."

Furthermore, Undersecretary Hutchinson now appears to be backing away from all interior enforcement efforts. He recently confirmed the Mobile Patrol Group, a 12-member Border Patrol team that had been conducting raids of illegal aliens in California, had been reassigned to enforce areas around the U.S.-Mexico border. Mr. Hutchinson also recently stated that the goal of his department is to gain "operational control" of the border, implying that interior enforcement is not a goal of the agency.

["Rounding up all illegals 'not realistic'," The Washington Times, September 10, 2004]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S POSITIONS ON INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT

Before Sep. 11 President Bush had refused to appoint law enforcement-types to the then INS and had refused to order the INS to begin enforcing the law, but since Sep. 11 he has shown some signs of interest in increasing interior enforcement.

In January, 2002, the White House announced that the INS would implement an entry-exit system "to track the arrival and departure of non-U.S. citizens." The White House said "this new system will dramatically improve our ability to deny access to those individuals who should not enter the United States, while speeding the entry of routine, legitimate traffic."

President Bush has made statements in favor of an improved visa tracking system. In January 2002, President Bush said that an improved visa tracking system would identify visitors who overstay their visas and serve as a way to target terrorists who seek to gain access to the U.S. by overstaying a visa. http://www.numbersusa.com/text?ID=943 President Bush also came out in support of implementation of an entry\exit system for noncitizens in January, saying that such a system would probably include biometric identifiers http://www.numbersusa.com/text?ID=944. (NOTE FROM ABI: an entry-exit system should be part of any comprehensive visa tracking system).

However, the Bush Administration missed 13 of the 22 deadlines of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, which would implement a secure visa tracking system. [See NumbersUSA Government Relations Director Rosemary Jenks' report "Falling Behind on Security: Implementation of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002".]

In May of 2001, President Bush urged Congressional leaders to extend a deadline for 245(i), an immigration provision that allows illegal immigrants to pay a fine of $1,000 for entering the country illegally plus a $225 filing fee in turn for legal residency in the U.S., a provision that applied to an estimated 640,000 illegal aliens. This provision to reward illegal aliens was created during the federal appropriations crisis in the autumn of 2000. It was added as a compromise when efforts for massive amnesties were defeated. The deadline for filing was to expire at midnight on April 30, 2001, but an extension would give about 200,000 additional illegal aliens the opportunity to file under this provision, according to the Bush Administration. 245(i) effectively removes the only real penalty that illegal immigrants face — the requirement that they leave the U.S. for a period of time before applying for legal entry into the country.

President Bush has offered conflicting opinions about whether illegal immigrants who successfully evade the border patrol should be identified and deported or provided tax-supported services. While stating that he opposed the spirit of Prop 187 (the California initiative designed to end taxpayer funding of social services to foreigners illegally residing in the state), he remarked that illegal immigrants should not receive benefits. (Interview w/ San Francisco Chronicle 9/3/99)

Bush erroneously has interpreted Prop. 187 as written to deny benefits to the children of illegal immigrants; rather, Prop. 187 denied benefits to people who were themselves illegal aliens. But this was Bush's statement to the Chronicle: "I think we ought to educate children, regardless of the status of their parents. I understand people in California may have a different opinion on that . . . (but) the theory that if we didn't educate their children, (immigrants) may go home, is a theory I didn't subscribe to. I do believe we need to enforce our borders . . . but I believe that if a child is in our country, that child should be educated."

When asked whether federal benefits of any kind should be paid to illegal immigrants Bush responded, "No, except for emergency conditions, obviously. I mean, if an illegal immigrant shows up with a pregnancy, of course."

DRIVER'S LICENSES FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

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FEDERAL FORCED DOUBLING OF U.S. POPULATION - supports faster doubling

Mr. Bush currently favors speeding up the rate of U.S. population growth. The Census Bureau states that existing immigration numbers will change the United States from a country of 290 million people today to 571 million at the end of the century.

Apparently even that is not enough of a change for Mr. Bush. His current stance is that immigration numbers should be raised even more.

Click here to view a detailed version of the massive
population growth being caused by current immigration
numbers which this candidate wants to make even larger.

GENERAL INFORMATION

George Walker Bush: Governor of Texas, 1994 to January 2001; President of the United States, January 2001-present

George W. Bush was born in 1946 in New Haven, Conn., where his father was still a student at Yale. G.W. graduated from Yale in 1968 with a major in history and later received a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard in 1975. He married Laura Welch in 1977.

G.W. Bush ran for Congress in 1978, losing to the Democratic candidate, after which he returned to the oil business in West Texas. He and a group of businessmen bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in 1989. He was one of two managing general partners until he was elected Governor of Texas in 1994. (It should be noted that Texas has a relatively weak chief executive and a legislature that meets for a few months only once every two years.)

Bush has been notable as a Republican for his "outreach" to Latino ethnic communities in his search for votes, in particular his use of Spanish in public speaking venues. His campaign strategists say they are "looking to win every Latino vote."

People who seek lower immigration and a more stable United States could applaud President Bush's outreach to the Latino part of the American population except that he has seemed to equate being pro-Latino with being pro-immigration. Many Republican consultants have advised candidates that if they are to receive votes of Latino-descent Americans, they cannot advocate a public policy of lower immigration numbers. ABI, however, believes that careful attention to the facts would help the President realize that lower immigration numbers would bring disproportionately positive benefits to Latino citizens. To date, President Bush has shown no sign of recognizing it. Although his general approach to Latino citizens has been to refuse to treat them as victims, he has not shown the same kind of sophistication in discussing immigration.

Bush sometimes embraces opposites within the immigration debate. He calls for stiffer border enforcement while he simultaneously expresses understanding for the lawbreakers, saying, "They're coming here to provide for their families, and I empathize with that."

In addition, President Bush has been an enthusiastic supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The trade pact has added to the illegal immigration along the Rio Grande. NAFTA increased the proliferation of the border-hugging factories known as maquiladoras, which are owned by multinational corporations and use the cheap labor available in Mexico. These factories pay even less than similar industries in the interior of Mexico. Maquiladoras draw Mexicans to the border area, who are then enticed to travel a few more miles north the reach the much higher wages in the U.S.

EXPLANATIONS:
• Capitalized green positions (i.e. SUPPORTS - OPPOSES) indicate a stance that would encourage lower immigration and more U.S. stability.
• Lower case red positons (i.e. supports - opposes) indicate stances that would lead to higher U.S. immigration, sprawl and congestion.
• Categories that are not followed by positions indicate that no position is yet known for that issue.
• "SUPPORTS/OPPOSES" indicates a mixed stance that is more supportive than oppositional.
• "OPPOSES/SUPPORTS" is similar but indicates more opposition than support.