Bush to launch immigration policy reform

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- President Bush will launch his re-election year by proposing the most sweeping changes in U.S. immigration policy in 18 years.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Bush's proposals would make it easier for immigrants to work legally in the United States.

If a specific job is waiting for them, immigrants may cross the border legally, sources said. The sources said the administration also wants to provide a way for some undocumented workers in the United States to move toward legal status.

To placate conservatives, Bush will include stricter entry controls, including increased use of technology at the border and steps toward better enforcement of current visa restrictions and reporting requirements.

At his year-end news conference Bush said he was preparing to send Congress recommendations for an "immigration policy that helps match any willing employer with any willing employee."

An estimated 8 million undocumented people live in the United States. At least half of them are Mexican, authorities said.

Bush's plan is the most ambitious of its kind President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in 1986 offering legal status to millions of illegal immigrants who had moved to the United States before 1982.