Standing outside a magazine shop on Alvarado Street near downtown Los Angeles, Margot Jimenez points out the men selling fake green cards and the women hawking fruit from illegal carts.
To Jimenez, the lack of a guest worker program invites problems and abuses, because without such protection, many illegal immigrants must work in the underground economy. And there, she says, they often work in adverse conditions at minimum wage or less.
"That will only stop when there's work permits," Jimenez, who came here illegally from Honduras two years ago, said Friday. "All those people taking advantage of undocumented people would stop."
For this reason, Jimenez welcomed the details of President Bush's proposal for a temporary worker program. But other undocumented immigrants expressed concern that they would be required to return to their native countries after participating in the program.
After some details were made public, the proposal also drew criticism Friday from immigrants' rights advocates and those who favor tighter immigration controls.
Bush had proposed a temporary worker program early last year to "match willing foreign workers with willing American employers, when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs." Administration officials have been presenting details to lawmakers during meetings in Washington, according to Republicans who have attended the meetings.
Under the proposal, undocumented immigrants would first pay a substantial fine as a penalty for being in the country illegally. They then could apply for a three-year work visa with the possibility of one extension. After participating in the program, the immigrants would have to return to their native countries. The proposal would also include more security at the border and more sanctions against employers who hire undocumented immigrants.
Immigrants' rights advocates say it's impractical to have a temporary worker program that does not offer immigrants any path toward permanent residency or citizenship. Undocumented immigrants would be unlikely to apply in large numbers for such a program, they said.
"This proposal leaves a big gap," said John Trasvina, a senior vice president at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Trasvina said that reform is so badly needed that there should not be a time limit. "It doesn't serve the workers and it doesn't serve the employers," he said. "People don't return after a particular date. Employers don't stop hiring workers after a particular date."
