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U.S. GOVERNMENT 1: Work Program for Immigrants

On Wednesday, January 7, 2004, President Bush announced an important plan for immigration to the United States. Immigration is when someone from another country comes to live in the United States. Right now, the United States has many laws that make it difficult for people to immigrate to the United States; this is why there are so many illegal immigrants. An illegal immigrant is someone who has come to live in the United States, even though the law says that they cannot live in the United States. Illegal immigrants have very difficult lives, because in order to live in the United States, they usually have to work the very long hours at the hardest jobs. And, because they are not supposed to be living in the United States, they often do not get the same protection as other Americans - they make less money at their jobs, and work under worse conditions.

Therefore, President Bush proposed a plan that would start to protect immigrants called the "temporary work program." This program says that immigrants can come to the United States if they have found jobs in the country and if American workers cannot fill the jobs. If immigrants meet these two requirements, then the government will let them live legally in the United States for three years. After the three years are over, the government would either tell them that they can stay for another three years, or tell them that they must leave the United States. Immigrants would have to leave the United States if they break the law, or do not follow the rules of the "temporary work program."

This plan has not yet become a part of the law in America, and when Congress starts talking more about immigration, there will be a lot of debate and disagreement. Some people are worried that this plan does not protect immigrants enough - that they will be forced in larger numbers into low-paying jobs and poverty. Others think that supporting illegal immigrants is breaking the law - the United States should not allow new people to move in. However, one thing that most people do agree on is that the immigration laws in America now have not been working, and changes need to be made.

--Written by Angela Schutte

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