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Change Your Life! |
Bush’s speech bitten by the Hispanic bug |
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Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush speaks before an audience at the League of United Latin American Citizens 71st National Convention in Washington, D.C., Monday, June 26, 2000. (AP Photo/Eric Draper) |
June 28, 2000
WASHINGTON
(AP) - George W. Bush told Hispanic leaders he wants to split the
Immigration and Naturalization Service into two parts: a welcoming one for
legitimate immigrants and a tough one for border enforcement.
Bush also called for allowing relatives of permanent residents to visit the United States while their own immigration papers are being processed.
The Republican presidential contender addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens, spicing his speech with Spanish phrases. |
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He seemed to change few minds. Those who said they already supported Bush said they liked his message. Those opposed to him heard nothing inviting in his 20-minute talk. Rene Garcia, a government worker from Philadelphia and a Republican, liked everything he heard from the Texas governor on education, immigration reform and family. "I like the way he thinks," Garcia said. "I like his message because he thinks education is important and he respects Hispanic people."
But Teri Martinez, a teacher from Tucson, Arizona, and a Democrat, said, "It's like he's talking off the top of his head. All I hear is rhetoric. Everything he says is extremely ambiguous. I think he should have been briefed better because everything was too general." Kicking off a week aimed at showing he's "a different kind of Republican," Bush called the INS "an agency that sends mixed signals to the people we're trying to help."
Besides
splitting the INS in two, he said that as president he would
drop the policy that bars the spouses and minor children of legal
permanent residents from coming into the country while their own entry applications are being processed. "As I've said, family values should not stop at the Rio Grande River," Bush said. A spokesman for Bush's likely rival, Vice President Al Gore, said that while INS might be in need of some reform, the agency shouldn't be split.
"We don't need to create another bureaucracy. We can strike the right balance between law enforcement and customer service under a streamlined INS," said Doug Hattaway. But he added that Gore supports allowing the visits by relatives of permanent residents "because uniting families is central to his immigration policy." "He would also work with Congress to ensure that the INS has adequate resources to reduce the backlog" of applications for legal permanent residence," Hattaway said. Bush voiced strong support for trade with Mexico and added "A strong Mexico is good for America. I want prosperity to extend its reaches." On education, Bush said he would hold local school districts responsible if children didn't learn. "There are no second-rate children in America and no second-rate dreams," Bush said. Later Monday, Bush reiterated his stance on education in a speech at a benefit diner for the Congress of Racial Equality, which is led by conservative black activist Roy Innis. He also discussed tax cuts, saying the tax code penalizes people at the lower end of the income scale. "It's as if we put a toll booth right in the middle of the road to the middle class. On the one side, people are kind of moving along and looking at the stock market, and on the other side, we've raised the toll. That's not right," Bush said.
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