    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [April 8, 2006]
    [Pages 679-681]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    April 8, 2006

        Good morning. This week, Members of the United States Senate reached
    a promising bipartisan compromise on comprehensive immigration reform.
    Unfortunately, this compromise is being blocked by the Senate Democratic
    leader, who has refused to allow Senators to move
    forward and vote on amendments to this bill. I call on the Senate
    minority leader to end his blocking tactics and allow the Senate to do
    its work and pass a fair, effective immigration reform bill.
        Immigration is an emotional issue and a vitally important one. At
    its core, immigration is the sign of a confident and successful nation.
    It says something about our country that people around the world are
    willing to leave their homes, leave their families, and risk everything
    to come to America. Their talent, hard work, and love of freedom have
    helped make America a vibrant, strong nation. And by reforming our
    immigration laws to meet the realities of the 21st century, we will
    ensure that America remains a beacon of liberty for generations to come.
        I made clear that a comprehensive immigration reform bill must
    include three elements. First, comprehensive immigration reform must
    secure our borders. Since I took office, we've increased funding for
    border security by 66 percent, and Federal agents have apprehended and
    sent home more than 6 million people entering this country illegally,
    including more than 400,000 with criminal records. To improve

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    security at the border, we're hiring thousands more Border Patrol
    agents; we're deploying new technologies like infrared cameras and
    unmanned aerial vehicles to help our agents do their jobs; we're
    installing physical barriers to entry, like fences in urban areas. We're
    making good progress, but we have much more work ahead to gain control
    of our border. I'll continue to work with Congress to strengthen border
    security, so we can prevent illegal immigrants from crossing our border
    and make the immigration system more orderly and secure.
        Second, comprehensive immigration reform must strengthen the
    enforcement of our laws in America's interior. Since I took office,
    we've increased funding for immigration enforcement by 42 percent,
    increased the number of immigration enforcement agents and criminal
    investigators, enhanced worksite enforcement, and gone after smugglers,
    gang members, and human traffickers. A good immigration bill should
    enhance our ability to stop document fraud and help employers comply
    with our laws.
        Finally, comprehensive immigration reform must include a temporary-
    worker program that relieves pressure on our borders while rejecting
    amnesty. A temporary-worker program would create a legal way to match
    willing foreign workers with willing American employers to fill jobs
    that no American is available to do. By creating a legal channel for
    those seeking temporary work in America, we would reduce the number of
    people trying to sneak across the border. This would free up law
    enforcement officers to focus on criminals, drug dealers, terrorists,
    and others who mean us harm. A temporary-worker program would also
    improve security by creating tamper-proof identification cards, so we
    can keep track of every temporary worker who is here on a legal basis
    and identify those who are not.
        A new temporary-worker program should not provide amnesty. Granting
    amnesty would be unfair to those who follow the rules and obey the laws.
    Amnesty would also be unwise, because it would encourage others to break
    the law and create new waves of illegal immigration. We must ensure that
    those who break our laws are not granted an automatic path to
    citizenship. We should also conduct the debate on immigration reform in
    a manner worthy of our Nation's best traditions.
        To keep the promise of America, we must remain a welcoming society
    and also enforce the laws that make our freedom possible. As we do, our
    Nation will draw strength from the diversity of its citizens and unity
    from their desire to assimilate and become one people. By working
    together, we can fix our immigration system in a way that protects our
    country, upholds our laws, and makes our Nation proud.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 12:56 p.m. on April 7 in the Cabinet
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on April 8. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    April 7 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office of
    the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this
    address.

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