Capitol Press: President defends Senate immigration reform bill

"Immigration reform is a complex issue; it’s a difficult piece of legislation. And those who are looking to find fault with this bill will always be able to find something," Bush said. "If you’re serious about securing our borders and bringing millions of illegal immigrants in our country out of the shadows, this bipartisan bill is the best opportunity to move forward."

Debate will continue for another week after lawmakers return to Capitol Hill after Memorial Day. Bush said the bill first seeks to ensure border security and worker verification targets are met before other elements become effective. In the past year, the President said more than a million illegal immigrants were apprehended.

"This is progress, but it’s not enough. Many Americans are rightly skeptical about immigration reform," Bush said. "I strongly believe the bipartisan Senate bill addresses the reasons for past failures, while recognizing the legitimate needs of our economy, and upholding the ideals of our immigrant tradition."

On Wednesday, an amendment passed the Senate to lower the cap of 400,000 guest workers to 200,000 in a broad guest worker program. Another amendment was approved to add 2,000 more Border Patrol agents for a total of 20,000, and to add other enforcement protections.

Criticism of Senate Bill, S. 1348, is that it amounts to amnesty for the estimated 10 million to 12 million undocumented people in the country. Bush countered that charge Thursday.

"This bill does not grant amnesty. Amnesty is forgiveness without a penalty," Bush said. "Instead, this bill requires workers here illegally to acknowledge that they broke the law, pay a fine, pass background checks, remain employed, and maintain a clean record."

Still intact in the Senate bill is a separate guest worker program for agriculture. On Friday, a delegation of county Farm Bureau leaders from California wraps up three days of meetings on Capitol Hill to press for support of the Senate bill. Jack King, director of national affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said the amnesty criticism is unwarranted.

"It is frustrating because it fails to take into account the clear understanding that if foreign agriculture workers don’t do the jobs in agriculture, they won’t be done," King said. "For all of those who cry ‘amnesty’ and say that it shouldn’t be allowed to proceed, it doesn’t square with the reality of the situation. We have to do something."

King said the agriculture guest worker program in the Senate bill is supported by a bi-partisan group of Senate leaders, including both of the state’s Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. The agriculture worker program is also backed by the United Farm Workers union and has the support of Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. and Larry Craig, R-Idaho. Craig and Feinstein have co-authored a stand alone agriculture guest worker program known as AgJobs.