Immigration and the Election: views from the White House

Today at 1pm Eastern time, President Bush fielded questions from reporters about how the White House will cope with the new political landscape in Washington.  The President mentioned a few areas where he saw the potential for cooperation between the White House and the Democrats in Congress, including issues of the minimum wage and education issues.

He did not affirmatively mention immigration, but the last question of the press conference focused on the issue.  Asked if he thought that compehensive immigration reform was an area where the White House and the Democrats in Congress could work together, the President gave an enthusiastic yes and said that he should have mentioned that issue in his earlier discussion regarding potential areas of compromise.

QUESTION: On immigration, many Democrats had more positive things to say about your comprehensive proposal than many Republicans did. Do you think a Democratic Congress gives you a better shot at comprehensive immigration reform?

BUSH: You know, I should’ve brought this up. I do. I think we have a good chance. Thank you. It’s an important issue, and I hope we can get something done on it. I meant to put that in my list of things that we need to get done.

The answer to a follow-up question suggested that the President views a guest worker program as an important component of comprehensive immigration reform.

A link to the full press conference is here.

-jmc