In an unprecedented move that defied all odds, President Bush seems to have changed course in an apparent head-on collision with the conservative arm of the Republican Party who helped reelect him. The president dug up the Fair and Secure Immigration Reform proposal from its grave, on January 7, 2004, shortly after his reelection.

If the president’s current move holds, he might put smiles on the faces of millions of illegal aliens currently residing in the United States.

It will be recalled that President Bush announced his Fair and Secure Immigration Reform on January 7, 2004, and quickly abandoned it when the key elements of the Republican Party kicked against such move. In a complete surrender to the wishes of his base, the President was evasive throughout the campaign about his immigration plans for the second term, but surprisingly, immigration was one of the issues touched by the President after his reelection.

Some Republican members of Congress are not happy with the President’s current move. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO), chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, reportedly said concerning the President’s proposal, “An amnesty by any other name is still an amnesty, regardless of what the White House wants to call it. Their amnesty plan was dead on arrival when they sent it to the Congress in January, and if they send the same pig with lipstick back to Congress next January, it will suffer the same fate.”

It seems to be certain that immigration reform will be part of the president’s legislative agenda for next year regardless of the opposition. The Republican majority in Congress and the pro-immigration Democrats might be able to push the President’s agenda though.

As stated in my article of January, 2004 issue of African Abroad, what the President is proposing will benefit millions of illegal aliens in the United States if it becomes law.

Under President Bush’s initiative, a new class of visa will be created called the temporary worker’s visa. According to the President, the “new temporary workers’ program will match willing foreign workers with willing employers, when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. This program will offer legal status of temporary workers, to millions of undocumented men and women now employed in the United States and to those in foreign countries who seek to participate in the program and have been offered employment here.”

As it presently stands, aliens who are employed illegally will be the first beneficiaries of the temporary workers’ status. If an alien is presently employed illegally, his employer will not be required to attempt to recruit an American to fill the position. It will be presumed by operation of law that the employer could not find an American to fill the position; therefore, the undocumented employee will be issued a temporary worker’s status. The visa will be valid for three years and renewable every three years.

The downside of the proposal is that any undocumented alien in the United States, who is not currently employed, will need to secure an employer before he/she will be issued the temporary worker’s status. The prospective employer will undergo a simple, but yet to be determined recruitment exercise to see if any American is interested in the job. If an American expresses interest, the temporary worker’s status will not be issued to the alien. It is therefore, a must to have a job before you can be given the temporary worker’s status.

The President’s proposal will make the new temporary worker’s status available to foreign nationals who are desirous of working in the United States in future.

Every alien issued with the temporary worker’s status will be able to travel abroad back and forth without any fear about reentry.

It is important to point out that the program comes with responsibilities. The employer will be responsible for the employee. The employee must remain with the employer or risk deportation. The employer must report to the authority any time the employee leaves his services or when the status of the employee expires.

According to the President, “participants who do not remain employed, who do not follow the rules of the program or who break the law will not be eligible for continued participation and will be required to return home.”

The President’s plan is still a proposal, not law. The benefits of the proposal will become effective when the initiative becomes law.