NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, July 17, 2001

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said policy-makers must face "the reality that there are many people who are here illegally. Whether you do this or you don't do this, they're still here."

Illegal Aliens 'Should Feel Welcome' Here?!

"It's a welcoming signal," Fleischer said of the proposal, which would require congressional approval. "People from Mexico should feel welcome in the United States," he said.

Normally it is Democrats who want to increase numbers of illegal aliens in the U.S., because they vote overwhelmingly for the Democrat party.

Fleischer's comments came after a Sunday report in the New York Times that described elements of immigration and border policy being drafted at the Departments of State and Justice.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft are expected to hand over the recommendations to the White House for consideration in the coming days, Fleischer said. After that, the White House is to begin looking into the recommendations and make a final decision on whether to adopt them as policy, Fleischer said. He said there was no timetable for the White House review, though.

Fleischer said other proposals in the report include a "new temporary worker program that would focus on such things as preventing adverse affects on U.S. workers, ensuring legal rights and protections for the temporary workers who come to this country and promoting a secure and orderly border."

The report stems from talks between President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox, who is to visit the White House on Sept. 4. Fox, who is on a Midwest tour, was in Chicago on Monday. Bush and Fox have vowed to step up cooperation on immigration and border issues, which have been a longstanding source of friction in relations between Washington and Mexico City.

The legalization of illegal aliens in the United States has long been a political cause of Hispanics, whose support Bush is aggressively courting. The initiative is also in step with calls from Catholic leadership in Rome. Bush, who is to meet next week with Pope John Paul II next week at the end of a weeklong European trip, is hoping to shore up support among Catholics, who could be a pivotal voting bloc in the 2004 elections.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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