From the Washington Post: Bush commits himself to immigration reform while in Guatemala

The following is an article that appeared in the Washington Post on March 13, 2007:

 In Guatemala, Bush Vows to Push Immigration Changes


By PETER BAKER
Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, March 13, 2007; Page A10


GUATEMALA CITY, March 12 -- President Bush defended a recent surge of deportations that have inflamed passions here in Latin America, but vowed Monday to redouble efforts to overhaul immigration laws and called on the Senate to pass comprehensive legislation by summer.

"The system needs to be fixed," he said during his first visit to this impoverished nation, which many have fled seeking opportunities in the United States, legally and illegally. "It seems like to me, we’ve got to get this done by August."

Although he called that a goal rather than a deadline, it was the first time Bush has prodded lawmakers with a time frame since Democrats took over Congress. It also was a tacit acknowledgment that the next few months represent his last chance to push through the most significant domestic initiative remaining in his presidency. After that, aides contend, the approach of the 2008 presidential primaries would make consensus implausible.

The president’s visit put him in the awkward position of defending tough new enforcement actions and expanded barriers along the southern U.S. border while assuring Latin Americans that he remains committed to not expelling from the United States most illegal immigrants. President Oscar Berger pressed him about recent deportations of Guatemalans that upset a country where 10 percent of its population has moved north of the Rio Grande.

"I’m sure they don’t want to be sent home," Bush said during an appearance with Berger at the National Palace. "But nevertheless we enforce laws."

Berger was openly disappointed. "The Guatemalan people would have preferred a more clear and positive response -- no more deportations," he said. But he expressed confidence that Bush could push through legislation addressing the situation. "We have never been so close to finding a solution to this problem as now," Berger said.

The immigration issue dominated the fourth day of the president’s six-day Latin America tour and was likely to continue for the remainder of the trip as he headed Monday night for two days in Merida, Mexico. Tension over the matter complicated Bush’s efforts to use his trip to convince Latin America that "we care" about poverty, destitution and "social justice," as he has put it.

The president took a helicopter tour of the highlands Monday to reinforce his message that the United States is working hard to uplift its neighbors, even though they have felt ignored by his administration. He visited a U.S. military program that provides medical care to rural poor and an agriculture cooperative for indigenous farmers whose irrigation system was built with U.S. aid. Wearing an embroidered Mayan jacket, he hefted lettuce into a truck and handed out bags of hygiene items.

Bush also played tourist for a change, stopping by Iximche, a 537-year-old Mayan ruin that was the inspiration for the name of the country, where he watched children perform the traditional Dance of the Deer before a marimba band launched into John Philip Sousa march music. The day-long swing through the country was, Bush said later, "one of the great experiences of my presidency."

As with stops in Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia, Bush’s visit was cause for protest among people angry about his policies. Hundreds of demonstrators massed a block from the National Palace as a wall of riot police prevented them from moving farther. Clouds of dark smoke arose from something burning near the protesters. And even at Iximche, Mayan priests said they planned to "purify" the ruin after Bush left, to get rid of any "bad spirits" he might have left behind.

Guatemala is a case study in the sort of economic desperation Bush says he wants to address. Many in this Tennessee-size country of 12 million struggle to make ends meet. The per capita gross domestic product of $4,900 a year is little more than a 10th of the $43,500 in the United States."


Read the rest at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031200079.html?sub=AR. (Free registration to the WaPo website might be necessary, but worth it!)