The measure would speed up completion of a 3.5-mile gap in the fence between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, according to Tuesday's Los Angeles Times.

In a letter to Congress last week, the White House said, "The administration strongly urges [congressional] conferees to include the REAL ID Act of 2005 in the final version of the bill." The legislation also includes a ban on driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

Democrats are bristling over the Bush endorsement, with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid saying he was "disappointed."

"The fact of the matter is Republicans did this in a very tricky way," Reid Spokeswoman Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli told The Associated Press. "They knew that if they included REAL ID in the [military spending bill], it would be very hard to strike it out."

An older border fence constructed from scrap metal in 1993 was credited with an 88 percent drop in illegal immigration along the 14-mile length of border it protected.

In the 12 years since, however, the 10-foot-tall fence has deteriorated, leaving substantial gaps through which illegals now enter.

The White House-backed measure would finish construction of a much more formidable 14-foot-tall secondary fence, which was previously blocked due to environmental concerns.

The completed project would feature an impenetrable security zone framed by two access roads, three fences, bright lights and high-tech surveillance devices.

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