Bush pushes to legalise immigrants

President Bush will propose on Wednesday an overhaul of immigration laws that would grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented...

President Bush will propose on Wednesday an overhaul of immigration laws that would grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented workers in the US and their families as long as the workers can prove they are employed, a senior administration official said Tuesday night.

In a White House speech, the President will ask Congress to create a new temporary worker policy — open to undocumented workers now in the US and to foreigners who want to come — that would give them legal status for three years, renewable for a yet-to-be-determined number of times, the official said.

There are a number of limited guest worker programs in the US targetted at highly skilled workers in technology, typically from India, China and Eastern Europe.

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There are around 8 million undocumented people, more than half of them from Mexico. ‘‘So long as the undocumented person represents that they are working here and we can confirm that, then it could be as many as 8 million people’’ affected, the official said.

The temporary workers would receive Social Security cards and would be eligible for driver’s licenses in most states. The program is designed to ‘‘match willing foreign workers with willing US employers when no American can be found to fill those jobs.’’

But if an immigrant is already working in the US, that requirement will be considered fulfilled. The administration also intends to expand the number of people who can obtain a green card, or lawful permanent residency, which begins the path to US citizenship.

Under Bush’s plan, which he is calling ‘‘Fair and Secure Immigration Reform,’’ eligible temporary workers ‘‘will be able to travel freely back, to and from their home country,’’ and will ‘‘enjoy minimum wage, due process protection’’ and all the other employment rights of US workers.

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The program includes ‘‘incentives for return to the home country,’’ most notably agreements with other countries that would allow workers to collect retirement money that would include both Social Security checks and benefits paid by their home government.

The program will not make it easier for the temporary workers to become full citizens. Bush has said that he opposes ‘‘blanket amnesty.’’