President Bush is preparing to step up his fight against illegal immigration by more rigidly enforcing the country's borders. Bush has signed a bill that provides big increases for the Border Patrol, including money for 1,000 new agents and improved technology. However, the president has sent a mixed signal by also urging Congress to adopt a temporary-worker program that would allow some immigrants to remain in the United States for as long as six years.
See "Bush Renews Push for Immigrant-Worker Plan", Elisabeth Bumiller and Eric Lipton, The New York Times, October 18, 2005