After a period of time, however, the dreaded “amnesty” word worked its way out of the Kerry lexicon on the subject. In its place -- the more refined and neater: “earned legalization”: “I support an earned legalization proposal that will allow undocumented immigrants to legalize their status if they have been in the United States for a certain amount of time, have been working, and can pass a background check. This makes sense for the economy, provides fairness to people in our communities who have worked hard and paid taxes, and will also allow us to strengthen our homeland security by bringing undocumented workers out of the shadows.” < -snip- > As to Kerry’s opinion of the President’s proposed program: “We need comprehensive immigration reform; you can’t do just one piece. The president’s plan is a fraudulent plan. It’s fundamentally a plan for cheap labor.” Harsh labels aside, Kerry finds himself bucking a President who is touting a plan that does not feature any sort of classic amnesty: “I oppose amnesty -- placing undocumented workers on the automatic path to citizenship,” Bush said, when announcing his own proposal. “Granting amnesty encourages the violation of our laws and perpetuates illegal immigration. America’s a welcoming country. But citizenship must not be the automatic reward for violating the laws of America.” Bush, among other things, wants to up the number of “green” cards that allow immigrants to work lawfully in the U.S. Currently about 140,000 “green cards” are issued each year to people wanting to migrate to the United States.
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