Bush sending National Guard to fight illegal immigration from Mexico

The Senate is delving into contentious immigration legislation after a prime time TV prod from President Bush to toughen border security with National Guard troops and find a ?rational middle ground? on citizenship for millions of men and women in the country illegally.

Democrats responded with a pledge of cooperation and a barbed question for the commander in chief. Bush ?has the power to call up the National Guard to patrol the border,? said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat. ?But does he have the power to lead his own Republican forces in Congress in support of real immigration reform??

Durbin?s jab was aimed at anticipated year-end compromise negotiations with House Republicans. But the next move in an election-year struggle belonged to the Senate, where, hours before Bush spoke, debate opened on a bipartisan bill that generally met his specifications.

The measure includes tougher border security provisions, a guest worker program and an eventual path to citizenship for nearly all the estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally. The bill also includes steps to make sure employers don?t hire illegal workers.

After months of political bickering, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, agreed the Senate was on track for passage of the bill by Memorial Day.

Supporters of the measure said they had the votes to block the first of several expected attempts by critics to rewrite the measure.

?We must have a more permanent solution for securing our borders,? Isakson said in a statement after Bush spoke, reaffirming his intention of seeking a vote on his proposal.

That wasn?t how the sponsors of the Senate bill saw it, and Bush described his own views this way: ?An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together, or none of them will be solved at all.?

The centerpiece of Bush?s speech Monday night from the Oval office was his announcement that as many as 6,000 National Guard troops would be dispatched to states along the Mexican border to provide intelligence and surveillance support to Border Patrol agents. The Border Patrol would remain responsible for catching and detaining illegal immigrants.

?We do not yet have full control of the border, and I am determined to change that,? the president said.

While much of the advance focus on Bush?s speech was on border security ? a major issue for conservatives ? the president?s comments on possible citizenship for illegal immigrants were more explicit than earlier remarks and showed an effort to appeal to moderates and business owners who favor liberalized immigration laws.

?Some in this country argue that the solution is to deport every illegal immigrant, and that any proposal short of this amounts to amnesty. I disagree,? he said.

?It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States, and send them across the border. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation.?