Republican candidates might have found a perfect topic to counter Democratic questions about the Bush administration.

(Angus Reid Global Scan) Mario Canseco - Earlier this year, before George W. Bush's approval rating plummeted below the 45 per cent mark, Social Security emerged as the White House's pet issue. Bush travelled all over the country to discuss his vision.

The American president had vowed to reform the Social Security system during his re-election campaign. Bush proposed allowing workers to divert up to four per cent of their Social Security taxes into personal accounts that could be invested in stocks and bonds. While the town hall meetings provided for great photo-ops, the idea worried Democrats in Congress, and polls showed a wary public. A June Hart/McInturff survey for the Wall Street Journal and NBC News showed that only 33 per cent of respondents considered their president's rationale as a "good idea." More than 50 per cent of respondents expressed opposition to the changes in a Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll conducted in late June.

In November, Bush's approval rating fell to all-time lows in surveys released by nine different polling firms and media outlets. The controversy over the legal case involving Lewis Libby, plus questions about the war in Iraq—where more than 2,100 American soldiers have lost their lives—appeared to force the Republican administration to temporarily shelve the Social Security debate.

Now, Bush has been touting a new policy, one that he first put to the consideration of the American public in January 2004: a wide-ranging reform to the country's immigration rules. Almost two years ago, Bush discussed the creation of a "temporary worker program" that would grant legal status to undocumented workers, who would pay taxes, be required to return to their home country after three years, and receive no special preference if they decide to apply for permanent citizenship.

In his Dec. 3 radio address, Bush appeared to switch gears, and played the patriotism card. The president's message focused not on jobs, but on enabling a sense of belonging among those who seek a better life in the United States. Bush said, "In this new century we must continue to welcome legal immigrants and help them learn the customs and values that unite all Americans, including liberty and civic responsibility, equality under God, tolerance for others, and the English language."

Reactions to the plan have been mixed in the public opinion arena. This month's poll by Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas (SRBI) Public Affairs for Time put support for the guest worker program at 72 per cent. However, a Rasmussen Reports survey from November said 60 per cent of Americans would favour building a tall barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border to help reduce illegal immigration.

U.S. authorities estimate that more than 7 million illegal immigrants are currently living in the country. A recent report by the Pew Hispanic Center calculated the number of undocumented immigrants at 10.3 million. While California is home to most workers, Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina have the greatest rates of increase.

Mexican president Vicente Fox, who is now entering the last year of his tenure, was one of the most vocal proponents of a guest worker program. Still, his plans have been affected by two separate setbacks.

First, in the aftermath of 9/11, the predicament of American immigration regulations became evident. The embarrassing situation reached its nadir when a student permit issued for hijacker Mohammed Atta reached a Florida flight school exactly six months after he commanded American Airlines Flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Suddenly, national security concerns overshadowed the situation of undocumented migrants.

Then earlier this year, Fox was criticized by African American leaders in the U.S.—as well as State Department spokesman Richard Boucher—for comments about Mexican migrants that were deemed derogatory towards blacks. While the Mexican president did not issue an apology and claimed he had been misinterpreted, a communiqué from the Foreign Affairs Secretariat stated that Fox "regretted any hurt feelings his statements may have caused."

Several important figures in the U.S. Congress have begun to discuss ways of dealing with the immigration situation. Republican Arizona senator John McCain and Democratic Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy have proposed granting legal status to virtually every undocumented migrant, and creating a guest worker program. Another proposal—developed by Republican Texas senator John Cornyn and Republican Arizona senator Jon Kyl—focuses on tougher border enforcement measures and the mandatory electronic verification of a worker's eligibility.

Immigration is set to become a prevalent electoral issue in the November 2006 congressional ballot. Republican candidates in the border states, who might have been concerned about losing support on account of the president's problems, could find in this topic an ideal cause to invigorate their constituents.

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