Guest Worker Visas

It looks as if President Bush might be thinking of an alternative to allowing illegal immigrants to apply for Guest Worker visas in the US.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 - Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader, said Tuesday that conservatives might be able to compromise with President Bush on his proposal allowing illegal immigrants to work in the United States legally.

Such a compromise could entail, for example, requiring illegal immigrants to return to their native countries to apply for the program, Mr. DeLay said.

Mr. DeLay said he talked recently with the president, who has advocated a guest worker program that would be open to workers who are currently in the country illegally as well as to newcomers.

"He doesn't discount the notion, for instance, that you have to apply for it in your country of origin," Mr. DeLay said of the president. "He thought that was a great idea."

I am all for Guest Worker visas if the guest worker applies in their country of origin. That would satisfy my requirement that they enter the country legally. In the meantime, I would also be in favor of charging illegal immigrants with a misdemeanor that would allow them to return to the US legally at a future date, or even not charging them at all - with the proviso that they have not been charged with other crimes. Simply return them to their country of origin.

Just so that everyone understands, when I write about illegal immigrants, I am not talking about terrorists, that is an entirely other situation that has become intertwined with the illegal immigrant issue. All 19 of the September 11 terrorists had entered the country legally. Had Guest Worker visas been available then, I have no doubt all 19 would have obtained them.

Found via Michelle Malkin.