THE US: The Government has welcomed US President George Bush's most explicit endorsement yet of a plan to allow most of the United States's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, including tens of thousands of Irish citizens, to remain in the US and apply for citizenship.
Welcoming the president's televised address, foreign minister Dermot Ahern pledged a further $50,000 (€39,000) to the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, a US campaign on behalf of illegal Irish immigrants.
"In particular, I welcome his view that most of those who are currently undocumented should be able to apply for citizenship, once qualifying conditions are met. I recognise fully the complexity and sensitivity of this issue and I deeply appreciate the president's call for concerted efforts to work towards a rational middle ground," Mr Ahern said.
In his address, Mr Bush called for up to 6,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to the Mexican border and for improved measures to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. He also backed a guest-worker programme that would allow immigrants to work in the US for a few years, and expressed support for a Senate proposal to allow most illegal immigrants already in the US to embark on a path to citizenship.
"There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a programme of mass deportation," he said.
"That middle ground recognises there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently, and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record."
The president's speech came as the Senate started voting on amendments to a bill that would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the US for more than five years to apply for citizenship after paying a fine, settling all back taxes and working legally for a number of years.
Those in the country for between two and five years would have to return to a port of entry briefly before embarking on the same path, and those who arrived in the US less than two years ago would have to leave.
Mr Bush's speech failed to heal a split among Republicans over immigration or to win over conservatives in the House of Representatives who want to focus on border security and who reject what they see as an amnesty for illegal immigrants.
"While I appreciate the president's willingness to tackle big problems, I have real concerns about moving forward with a guest-worker programme or a plan to address those currently in the United States illegally until we have adequately addressed our serious border security problems," said House Republican whip Roy Blunt.
Two Irish men have been arrested at a Texas airport and are expected to be deported within days on illegal immigration charges, writes Sean O'Driscoll in New York.
The two men, one from Donegal and one from Dublin and both in their 20s, were arrested near Corpus Christi in southern Texas after immigration officials noticed that one of the men had overstayed his travel visa.
