Republicans call for more temporary US visa

June 29 2009 by Bryan Palmer

President Obama to overhaul US immigration

Obama: US immigration reform

The Republicans have told President Obama that they will support his measures to reform US immigration policy if he expands the guest worker programme.

President Obama met with around 30 lawmakers in the White House last week to launch his plan for comprehensive US immigration reform. At the meeting, Republican Senator John McCain said his party would get behind Obama on his plans providing he used his political power to expand the guest worker programme.

The Republicans feel that US industry would benefit from being able to recruit more people from abroad to work on a temporary US visa basis in order to fill gaps in the labour market and the guest worker programme allows them to do that.

Currently, labor unions AFL – CIO and Change to Win oppose plans to grant more temporary work visas to foreign workers over concerns that US citizens will lose out on jobs. McCain said yesterday that he hoped Obama would, “put his influence on the unions in order to change their position.”

In terms of the US immigration overhaul, which could see millions of unregistered US immigrants be given a path to citizenship, Obama said, “I think the American people are ready for us to do this.”

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