US to crack down on illegal immigrants, ease visa rule

Aug 10, 2007, 17:07 GMT

Washington - The US government will crack down harder on illegal immigrants and companies that employ them, but ease visa rules for professionals from Mexico and Canada, officials said Friday.

The steps come after US lawmakers this year failed to pass sweeping immigration reforms backed by President George W Bush, including ways to legalise an estimated 11-12 million illegal US residents. Mexicans who fill low-wage US jobs are at the centre of the debate.

'These reforms represent steps my administration can take within the boundaries of existing law to better secure our borders, improve worksite enforcement, streamline existing temporary worker programmes, and help new immigrants assimilate into American society,' Bush said.

Building on the administration's previous border enforcement plans, 19,000 border patrol agents will be in deployed by 2009 and nearly 600 kilometres of border fence will be in place by the end of 2008, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

Funding for detention centres will be further increased so the US can hold up to 31,500 illegal aliens until they can be deported.

The Bush administration will also press 'recalcitrant countries' to repatriate citizens who are in the US illegally, the department said.

Other steps announced Friday are designed to make it harder for illegal immigrants to appeal their deportation and increase pressure on US employers, partly by raising the maximum fine against those who knowingly and repeatedly hire illegal immigrants.

US officials are also preparing a rule change that will sharply reduce the number of documents that can be used to establish identity and work eligibility. The aim is to cut down on document fraud.

Meanwhile, the government will provide additional training for instructors and volunteers who lead immigrants through the citizenship process, DHS said.

And the visa term for professional workers from Canada and Mexico is to be extended from one year to three years, reducing bureaucracy for some 65,000 workers coming to the US each year.

'The United States must compete for foreign professional workers, and those who elect to lend their talents to the US economy should be welcomed with open arms,' a DHS statement said.