Immigration issue could trip up Bush
Republican strategists are warning that the White House may be headed for another political embarrassment – this time over the immigration issue. The problem, the strategists say, is that President Bush keeps pushing for a guest-worker program as part of his overall solution to the immigration problem while most House Republicans give a much higher priority to strengthening border security.
Many GOP legislators, in fact, consider Bush's guest-worker proposal a form of amnesty for people who illegally entered the United States – an approach they oppose.
"The White House had better back off," says a prominent GOP adviser who is close to many House Republicans. "They already have Republicans agitated, and this [Bush's stand on immigration] is making matters worse."
A senior White House official says Bush favors both enhanced border security and a guest-worker program. The official adds that Bush learned from the Dubai seaports debacle that he needs to be more sensitive to political realities on Capitol Hill. But the official also says Bush won't retreat from his guest-worker initiative. Bush's immediate goal is to keep legislators well informed, which he failed to do regarding the ports deal, under which the administration would have turned over major operations at six U.S. ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates.
"We'll try to prevent more surprises," the administration official told U.S. News. "That's what hurt us most [in the ports furor]."
The challenge, White House insiders say, is to encourage legislators to not take immutable positions that become very difficult to change later, when compromise is needed.
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