United States Immigration

In a push for a broadly inclusive immigration plan, House and Senate Democrats on Thursday said the United States should create a program to legalize undocumented workers of all nationalities and that such employees should enjoy the same labor rights as everyone else. The Democratic manifesto, which comes just a week after President Bush hinted that all unlawful immigrants may be considered in his new legalization approach, suggests that the debate has broadened beyond U.S.

"Good luck to you," a Los Angeles federal judge told Tony Alvarado on Monday as he sentenced the gang member turned model citizen to two years probation for illegally reentering the United States. U.S. District Judge George H. King's award of straight probation came as something of a surprise.

President Bush said Thursday that the White House effort to confer legal status on millions of undocumented immigrants from Mexico might be extended to all others who are in the United States unlawfully. "Well, we'll consider all folks here," Bush said in response to a reporter's question. "Obviously, the Mexican issue is at the forefront. . . . But I'm open-minded. I'll listen to all proposals that people have in mind."

It might be like asking the Red Sox to learn from the Yankees, New York to emulate L.A. or Madonna to swipe a move from Britney. But if President Bush wants to advance the ambitious overhaul of federal immigration policy he's considering, the best way might be to take a lesson from the GOP's bete noire, Bill Clinton. Clinton understood that the key to breaking the stalemate on many polarizing domestic issues was to marry ideas that had long been considered incompatible.

It took two passes to find the building. There once had been a medallion-shaped sign identifying the tiny cinder-block structure as an outpost of the United States Border Patrol. The sign, though, had been removed. This was in the northwest outskirts of town, on a weedy stretch of Golden State Boulevard that included an auto wrecking yard, a school for truck drivers and the future home of a Mexican frozen-food plant.

President Bush's choice to head the Immigration and Naturalization Service sailed through a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, even as he declined to reveal his views on a possible White House policy shift that would grant amnesty to millions of Mexicans living in the United States illegally. Appearing before an unusually cordial Senate Judiciary subcommittee, James W.

The White House is having trouble making up its mind about immigration. Last week at Ellis Island, President Bush called for treating immigrants with "openness and courtesy." This week, he admitted he was referring only to "Arnold Schwarzenegger, Henry Kissinger and that Fabio guy."

The White House backed away Monday from the notion of an "automatic" amnesty for the more than 3 million undocumented Mexicans in the United States but acknowledged that it will consider ways to "regularize" their status to address a festering issue with Mexico.

A White House task force on immigration will issue a report today urging President Bush to rethink the nation's immigration policy--possibly granting permanent legal status to the more than 3 million undocumented Mexicans living in the United States. Creation of a sweeping amnesty program is one of several options weighed by the high-ranking panel, which is headed by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, Justice Department officials said Sunday.