GLYNCO, Ga., May 29 — President Bush today accused opponents of his proposed immigration measure of fear-mongering to defeat it in Congress, and took on his own conservative political base as he did so. “If you want to scare the American people, what you say is the bill’s an amnesty bill,” Mr. Bush said this afternoon at a training center for border enforcement agents located in this town in Georgia’s southeastern corner. “That’s empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our citizens.”
The president used some of his toughest language yet as he began an effort to build support for the bill in the Senate. The measure hews closely to his long-sought goal of a new immigration system with three components: tighter seals on the nation’s borders, a guest-worker system for noncitizens who want to work here, and a path to citizenship for some 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country.
The bill, the product of a compromise struck by Republican and Democratic leaders two weeks ago, has encountered stiff resistance from the left and right. Liberal opposition taking aim at the proposal for shifting the system for awarding permanent residence status to give more weight to education and skills and less to family reunification, while conservatives have derided the plan for allowing illegal aliens to legalize their status.
It was the conservative opponents whom Mr. Bush seemed to address most forcefully in his remarks here today — a rare example of the president crossing swords with key members of the political coalition that helped him attain the Oval Office and then keep it four years later: The same conservative radio hosts, writers, bloggers, and legislators who killed an attempt at compromise immigration legislation last year.
Mr. Bush’s address came just as lawmakers have returned to their districts for a 10-day break from Washington to hear directly from constituents. It was during the late-spring recess last year that opponents of a similar bill barraged their Congressional representatives with complaints, especially about provisions they said amounted to amnesty for illegal aliens.
Then, with Congressional elections looming in the fall and his own party at risk of losing its majority, the president retreated.
But this year is an off year, electorally, and Mr. Bush appears determined to head off a similar outcome this time. In his remarks at the training facility here, he said that the bill includes strong measures to improve border security, and that it was now time to alleviate the pressure on the border by creating what he calls a new “rationalized” system.
“People in Congress need the courage to go back to their districts and explain exactly what this bill is all about,” Mr. Bush said. “The fundamental question is, will elected officials have the courage necessary to put a comprehensive immigration plan in place that makes it more likely we can enforce our border and, at the same time, uphold the great traditions of —— immigrant traditions of the United States of America.”
Mr. Bush’s address, given under a blazing Georgia sun before several hundred border enforcement agents and trainees, was the latest and most visible in a series of administration efforts to beat back critics, who administration officials say are misrepresenting the bill to the public.
In recent weeks, officials have given dozens of interviews on the subject to radio programs, editorial boards and newspaper reporters around the country.
But Mr. Bush and his allies on Capitol Hill are at a significant rhetorical disadvantage: conservative opponents can capture their objection to the bill in a single word — amnesty — while supporters are forced into the complex weeds of policy and the nuances of legislative language.