US: President Bush has signalled a significant shift in his administration's immigration policy, telling Republican and Democratic senators that he supports offering illegal immigrants a path to US citizenship.
Speaking after a meeting with 17 senators who support comprehensive immigration reform, Mr Bush came close to endorsing legislation that stalled on the Senate floor earlier this month.
"There is a common desire to have a Bill that enforces the border, a Bill that has interior enforcementbut a Bill that also recognises we must have a temporary worker programme, a Bill that does not grant automatic amnesty to people, but a Bill that says, somebody who is working here on a legal basis has the right to get in line to become a citizen."
Senators said that the president was more explicit during the closed-door meeting, telling them that he would support earned citizenship for some illegal immigrants if they paid a fine, paid all taxes owed, learned English, had a job and went to the end of the line for green cards.
"I think he was very clear on a pathway to citizenship, so long as it goes to the back of the line, and he even opened the door here for something we've haggled back and forth on, that you can shrink the time for people to become citizens by simply enlarging the number of green cards," said Florida Republican Mel Martinez, one of the architects of the Senate compromise.
The meeting appears to have energised senators in search of agreement and Democratic leader Harry Reid said he was confident they could agree legislation before the Memorial Day holiday on May 29th.
"I have to say that this meeting...was really, I thought, a good, good meetingThe bottom line is if we continue to work together the way we did in this meeting, we will have an immigration bill."
Mr Bush's endorsement of an earned path to citizenship represents a policy U-turn for the administration, which until recently favoured a guest-worker programme that would oblige immigrants to return home after six years.
Homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff told the Senate Judiciary Committee in October that the administration did not support "a path through which they can get their permanent residence or citizenship". Labour secretary Elaine Chao said: "We feel that a pathway to citizenship would reward those who have violated our laws."
The shift in attitude was underlined by the fact that senators John Cornyn and Jon Kyl, who had long been seen as close allies of the president, were not invited to the meeting.
Afterwards, Mr Bush made a point of thanking Senators Edward Kennedy and John McCain "for taking the lead on this important bill on the floor of the United States Senate".
Almost 70 senators are believed to support a Bill that would divide the US's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, who include tens of thousands of Irish citizens, into three groups.
Most of those who have been in the country for more than five years would be granted a path to citizenship; those in the US for more than two years but less than five years would have to go home first but would also be eligible for citizenship; while those in the country two years or less would just have to go home.
The deal fell apart when Democrats wanted to limit the number of amendments to be debated, fearing that some could undermine the thrust of the Bill. Democrats are also seeking assurances about the composition of the Senate delegation that would subsequently have to negotiate with the House of Representatives.
The House has passed a tough immigration Bill that would fortify the US's borders and make illegal immigrants and those who help them guilty of a felony but would offer no guest worker programme or path to citizenship.