EL PASO TIMES

January 25, 2007

Immigration advocate sees hope in Bush speech

By Darren Meritz / El Paso Times

President Bush's proposals on immigration reform Tuesday during the State of the Union address sparked hope from El Paso immigration advocates and lawmakers that the federal government will adopt legislation that improves both border security and immigration laws.

In his address, Bush called for new immigration laws that include added security by doubling the number of Border Patrol agents.

He also called for establishing a temporary guest-worker program, tools for verifying the legal status of workers and a way to resolve the status of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country.

Bush's address renewed the hope for a legal means for foreigners to work in the United States without breaking the law -- a position less often advocated by conservatives.

"I'm glad that he has expressed that he wants to take a comprehensive approach to the immigration issue," said Iliana Holguin, executive director of the Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services of El Paso.

"I'm just wondering if he's going to be able to sell his own party to that same viewpoint so that immigration reform can actually be accomplished."

Bush's proposals on immigration also resonated with members of the new Democratic-controlled Congress who may want to see greater emphasis on immigration reform rather than simply border security.

"The administration and the Congress have played politics with immigration and border security for too long," U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, a former Border Patrol administrator, said in a statement.

"I hope the president's call for immigration reform is genuine."

Doug Mosier, spokesman for the Border Patrol in El Paso, was optimistic that in the coming year, the El Paso Sector, which includes El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas and all of New Mexico, will see an increase in agents, technology and infrastructure.

Now, about 1,850 agents work in the sector, Mosier said.

He added that the El Paso area has been identified as part of a national border safety initiative because of the high volume of cross-border traffic.