Bush Tries to Dupe Mexican Immigrants
President George W. Bush on Monday kicked off a tour of States bordering Mexico to promote his controversial migration reform, which includes a non-renewable maximum residence of six years.

After a one-week Thanksgiving recess at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, the US president began his tour in the state of Arizona, where he will meet with officials from the Border Patrol and the Immigration and Customs Endorsement (ICE).

The meetings will be held in Tucson, where the president will explain the migratory reform which he proposed in early 2004 and focuses on the so-called "Guest Workers".

The initiative grants illegal immigrants temporary residence for three years if they find jobs rejected by US citizens. The permit to reside and work in the US can be extended for another three years.

Immigrants regard the reform with some suspicion because, although it grants them a permit to work and reside legally in the country, it is a mechanism to control 12 million illegal immigrants who live on US territory, 50 percent of whom are Mexicans.

Analysts say that the White House considers that the migration reform might give the Republican Party the votes it needs to remain a majority in Congress in the 2006 elections.

They base that assertion on the fact that 51 percent of US citizens want illegal immigration to decrease, especially in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. However, that demand is gaining ground in Mississippi, Utah, Alabama and Georgia.