BUSH: GIVE LEGAL STATUS TO ILLEGALS PRESIDENT SAYS CURRENT SYSTEM HAS MANY IN FEAR.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

President George W. Bush's sweeping proposal Wednesday to give at least temporary legal status to millions of illegal immigrants provoked a heated debate across Southern California and the nation, with reactions varying from angry denunciation to praise for opening debate on a politically sensitive issue.

Some accused the president of rewarding people who entered America illegally while others said his plan would give employers too much power over immigrants without offering them enough help. In between, there was talk about how his proposal could be modified and questions about whether it was more a political ploy than a policy initiative.

Decrying a system that now has ``millions of hardworking men and women condemned to fear and insecurity in a massive undocumented economy,'' Bush urged Congress to approve a temporary worker program.

The program would be open to all undocumented workers now in the United States. Applicants who can show they have a job - or for those still in their home countries, a job offer - would get an initial three-year work permit that would be renewable for an unspecified period.

``We should have immigration laws that work and make us proud. Yet today we do not,'' Bush said in the White House's East Room, which he entered to loud cheers from dozens of representatives from Hispanic organizations and immigration groups.

``One of the primary reasons America became a great power in the 20th century is because we welcomed the talent and the character and the patriotism of immigrant families. We must make our immigration laws more rational and more humane. And I believe we can do so without jeopardizing the livelihoods of American citizens ...

``Our homeland will be more secure when we can better account for those who enter our country, instead of our current situation wherein which millions of people are unknown, unknown to the law.''

The proposal could affect about 8 million illegal immigrants nationally - about 2.2 million of whom are estimated to be living in California.

Groups strongly critical of the nation's weak enforcement of immigration laws saw the proposal as a reward for breaking the law and a danger to U.S. citizens economically.

``There are millions of Americans who are out of work right now who would love to have jobs at a decent wage that would allow them to support themselves and their families,'' Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. ``As long as there's a virtually unlimited supply of immigrant workers who are willing to work for less, employers aren't going to hire those American workers.''

Immigrant advocates welcomed the opening of a debate but warned that Bush's proposal won't end worker exploitation.

``That's more power in the hands of the employers than they have right now,'' said Maria Elena Durazo, president of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 11 in Los Angeles.

Bush's proposal would grant immigrants renewable three-year permits to live and work legally in the United States if they already have jobs. People who lose their jobs or break U.S. laws would be returned to their home countries.

Immigrant advocates said the proposal falls short of a bipartisan bill that would give agricultural workers temporary and permanent residency status based on their employment tenure. Illegal immigrant workers could apply for temporary residency after 100 days of continuous employment and permanent status after 360 days.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, who sponsored the legislation, said that as long as employers have power over whether an employee can legally live in the country, workers won't have the full protection of U.S. labor laws.

Berman said he hopes to negotiate with Bush and fellow legislators on a compromise.

``The present situation is intolerable. (But) the fact that (Bush's proposal) would be better than the present situation doesn't make it right.''

Berman said he isn't asking for a general amnesty for illegal immigrants living in the United States. ``Conditioning full legalization on work along with paying taxes and observing the laws is appropriate. That's what makes this different from an amnesty.''

Bush also faces a tough sales job ahead within his own party, with many conservatives balking at the idea of any reward for people who broke the law.

``I'm not for allowing illegals to stay in this country,'' said Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. ``I think they should have to go back to their home countries ... and get in line with Jack, Suzy and John and apply for a guest worker position.''

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., predicted that Bush's ``dangerous and unworkable'' proposals would be rejected by Congress. ``Neither Mexicans nor anyone else will go through the hassle and paperwork of seeking legal jobs as long as the border is porous and employers can ignore the laws with impunity.''

While visiting Mexico on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he was confident that Congress would pass the proposal ``because it is a security issue.''

Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez welcomed the proposal, but said the United States needs a more concrete plan to help migrants.

But workers accepted into the program would be allowed to immediately, with an employer's sponsorship, begin applying for a green card, which allows permanent U.S. residency. Although these workers would get no advantage over other applicants already in the long line for green cards, an illegal immigrant who attempted to apply now would simply be deported.

With about half the illegal immigrants estimated to be from Mexico, the program was designed in part to win Bush increased support among the powerful Hispanic voting bloc in the November presidential election. He won just more than one-third of that constituency in 2000.

It also was aimed at smoothing the United States' sometimes rocky relations with Mexico ahead of a visit by Bush there next week. But the plan was not the broad and immediate amnesty program that Mexican President Vicente Fox has wanted, and the Mexican government's response was tepid. Fox, after a call Wednesday morning from Bush outlining the plan, called it merely ``very interesting.''

John Gay, co-chairman of the Essential Workers Immigration Coalition, a group of businesses and trade associations that have pushed for immigration reform, said the president ``has gotten the big things right'' but was worried about the details.

``We're going to have a lot of work in front of us, though, to make a workable immigration reform bill out of these principles,'' he said.

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(color) President George W. Bush speaks in the East Room on Wednesday, calling for a major overhaul of America's immigration system.

Ron Edmonds/Associated Press