Mayor Michael Bloomberg called on the U.S. Congress and the Bush Administration to allow the 12 million plus undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. without having to worry about being caught and deported to their respective homelands.

“I have always thought that the Federal Government, not the City, should provide some ways to make them permanently legal,” said Bloomberg to an audience of Caribbean leaders and Caribbean and African diplomats at his first meeting with the CaribNews Editorial Board.

It doesn’t matter if it’s through a green card, a Social Security Number or a driver’s license, let them remain, he said. “I don’t have a problem if you don’t grant them citizenship,” said Bloomberg.

“I think that learning the English language, learning the history of the country, swearing allegiance, these are reasonable things for citizenship,” Bloomberg told the Board. “We have half a million people in the city and 12 million in the country, we are not going to deport them, they are being exploited, (so) let’s get serious and let’s do something about it.”

Bloomberg, who is running for re-election and for the Republican nomination rejected as “ridiculous any plan to offer illegal immigrants a temporary status" because it exposes people to exploitation and would split families whose children were born in the United States and were citizens while their parents could face eventual deportation.

In a wide-ranging discussion that covered several economic and social issues affecting life in the city and the future of those who live in it, Bloomberg came out in strong support of the proposals by Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Teddy Kennedy, a Democrat of Massachusetts. Their suggestion was not to offer blanket amnesty to the undocumented, but allow them to stay.

“Let’s give them some kind (of status), give them some kind of permanent green card,” the Mayor added. “Close the borders if that’s what you want to do. I do not believe that the immigration policy of a country should be whoever sneaks in can sneak in but we should debate it and set some laws. Let’s talk about the people who are here today, give them permanent status.”

Legalizing them, he declared, “was the most important thing.”

As for the overall McCain-Kennedy immigration reform proposals, which both lawmakers have described as a work in progress, the Mayor said that top priority should be given to immigrants already in the country when it came time for a decision about the patterns of future immigration.

What then is a good immigration policy? It would be a law that addresses the issue of families.

“Family members of persons who are already here would use up a big chunk of who we can absorb, “ he replied. “ That’s certainly compassionate. I think one of the great dangers is if we stop immigrants it would be devastating to this country and to New York City.”

Why? As the Mayor explained it, New York City’s “great strength” was its open-door attitude to immigrants from around the world. “We need to have immigrants come here,’ he went on. “That has been the strength of the city. It’s not the Achilles heel. It’s exactly the reverse of what some people think.” Bloomberg was adamant that the economic vitality of the five boroughs depended on immigrants coming in.

Just as important was the treatment they receive, as many complained of exploitation. The Mayor also asserted that every immigrant should have access to city services without having to worry about being apprehended by immigration authorities.

“I am in favor of giving everybody who is here today a card that will let them take a job, not be exploited, have access to city services and not have to worry about somebody calling (immigration authorities)."

The bottom line in Bloomberg’s equation is removing the fear of deportation while giving immigrants the green light to live and work. “Give people documentation that says you don’t have to worry about being deported,” he recommended. “It seems to me to be the only intelligent thing to do, given our current situation.”

The Mayor seemed impatient with those who believe in deporting all illegal immigrants because deporting everyone was impractical to begin with and it simply would be inhumane.