A group of Senators who recently attended a White House meeting with President George W. Bush told the Associated Press today that the president favors a plan that would give millions of immigrants a chance at U.S. citizenship without leaving the country, but does not want to be more publicly supportive of it because he is afraid of upsetting his conservative base. “He thinks people should be given a path to citizenship,” said Mel Martinez (Republican from Florida). Martinez said Bush's remarks implied that many of the immigrants in the United States illegally would be permitted to remain during a lengthy waiting period. Senator John McCain (Republican from Arizona) said Bush favors the legislation that would do so, but does not want to publicly support it. “I understand that he wants to maintain latitude as he heads into negotiations with the House,” McCain said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters that “the agreement that was reached by the bipartisan group of senators is a vehicle to get comprehensive reform moving ahead.” Bush on Monday said massive deportation of illegal immigrants “just wouldn't work,” and that the Senate “had an interesting approach by saying that if you'd been here for five years or less, you're treated one way, and five years or more, you're treated another.”
