Latest Immigration reform Stories

By Donna Smith WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives scrambled on Thursday to bridge deep divisions within their party over President George W. Bush's proposed guest worker program as lawmakers neared a vote on legislation aimed at stopping illegal immigration. The House was poised to vote on Friday on the bill that its Republican backers say will strengthen border security and stanch the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States by...

By Donna Smith WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives scrambled on Thursday to bridge deep divisions within their party over President George W. Bush's proposed guest worker program as lawmakers neared a vote on immigration legislation. The House was poised to vote on Friday on the bill that its Republican backers say will strengthen border security and stanch the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States by forcing employers to check...

By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A southern California city became the first in the United States on Wednesday to approve a plan allowing police to investigate the immigration status of criminal suspects. After a bitter debate lasting to the early morning hours, city leaders in Costa Mesa, a suburban community of more than 100,000 people in Orange County, voted 3-2 to join a federal program that trains local police to identify and detain criminal aliens. No other U.S. cities...

By Alan Elsner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The powerful chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee put forward a tough bill on Tuesday designed to curb illegal immigration, punish those who employ illegal aliens and give the government more powers to detain and deport them. Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner's bill was the latest to tackle the issue of the estimated 10-12 million illegal foreigners in the United States. Unlike the others, his contained no provisions for a...

By Bernd DebusmannWASHINGTON -- An increasingly heated debate over U.S. immigration policy is highlighting the country's deep dependence on illegal workers whose departure, many experts say, would cripple much of the U.S. economy.Estimates of the number of foreigners in the United States illegally vary from 8.7 million (the U.S. Census Bureau) to 20 million (Bear Stearns, the investment company). The most widely used number is 11 million, by the Pew Hispanic Center and based on the 2000...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox said on Tuesday that major immigration reform was in the United States' own interest despite tough opposition from conservatives inside the U.S. Congress. Speaking after President George W. Bush promised tighter security on the border with Mexico, Fox refused to write off the chances of U.S. reform benefiting millions of Mexican workers and said he would continue to fight for it. "We are still optimistic that next year we can...

By Alan Elsner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An influential Republican Senator introduced legislation on Tuesday that would allow many of the estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the United States to eventually gain legal status, in a proposal that broke with the Bush administration. Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel, who is considering running for president in 2008, put forward four separate bills to address border security, employment security, create a guest worker program and...

By Alan Elsner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An influential Republican Senator introduced legislation on Tuesday that would allow many of the estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the United States to eventually gain legal status in a proposal that broke with the Bush administration. Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel, who is considering running for president in 2008, put forward four separate bills to address border security, employment security, create a guest worker program and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Saturday that his proposed guest worker program was an essential component of a plan to stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States. Bush this week signed a Homeland Security Department spending bill that included funds to toughen border security and increase enforcement of immigration laws. "As we improve and expand our efforts to secure our borders, we must also recognize that enforcement cannot work unless...