George Bush's position on

Immigration: Immigration in the United States has seen a severe facelift after the events of September 11, 2001. The U.S. government must find a balance that lets those seeking a better opportunity continue to find avenues for a better life, as well as adhere to the safety concerns that have been made by U.S. officials.

Descriptions of candidate's position: The visa screening process has become more intense to help screen out terrorists. Bush believes that an American employer should make a job known to Americans, and then if that job goes unfilled, the employer has the right to hire a registered immigrant. The legal status of registered, temporary workers will last three years and is renewable. Immigrants that violate the law or are unregistered will lose temporary status privilege. Workers who obtain temporary working status, which lasts three years,will lose this privilege if he/she violates immigration laws. President Bush is against amnesty because he believes it undermines the immigrants that take the steps to become legalized. Bush also wants to increase the number of green cards for immigrants, allowing for more immigrants to live in the U.S. Link

Quotation from the candidate: "This new system will be more compassionate. Decent, hard-working people will now be protected by labor laws, with the right to change jobs, earn fair wages, and enjoy the same working conditions that the law requires for American workers. Temporary workers will be able to establish their identities by obtaining the legal documents we all take for granted. And they will be able to talk openly to authorities, to report crimes when they are harmed, without the fear of being deported." January 7, 2004, from the Bush website.

Assessment of the proposal: 

Positive: The Center for Trade Policy Studies, based out of the Cato Institute, believes that President Bush's proposals are the most significant changes made on the issue in over 15 years. High-technology jobs will continue to be filled by naturalized citizens while the Center believes that immigrants play a vital role in the nation's economy by performing many jobs that Americans are not serving.

Negative: Janice Fine, a researcher with the Economics Policy Institute, believes that Bush's proposal would give too much power to bosses and not enough to workers. Fine does not believe that employers will look to hire only "registered" immigrants, but rather will still continue to look for those who will work for lower wages.

The Rand Corporation conducted study in which they found: "Specifically, there is general agreement that, currently, illegal immigrants contribute less to public revenues than do those who were amnestied under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). They, in turn, contribute less than legal immigrants, who contribute less than the native-borns. This finding merely reflects differences in the average incomes of these various groups rather than in their immigration status per se. In short, the suggestive finding that illegal immigrants are net consumers of public services is more a product of their low incomes than of their immigration status." 1995.

Comparison: John Kerry supports reform to the immigration policies of today. He believes that wages of workers should be "rigorously enforced." Kerry also believes that undocumented workers who have lived in the U.S. for five years, have paid taxes, and have been successfully checked for security purposes will have a chance towards earning citizenship.

Link to Kerry's issue brief