U.S. President George W. Bush listened to concerns about U.S. immigration reform from Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya on Monday, as the two met in the Oval Office. President Zelaya, who took office in January after a campaign that promised increased job opportunities, in return received assurances from Bush that he would support a bill to treat immigrants with respect. Honduras has been a close U.S. ally in Latin America, and Zelay is a supporter of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which removes trade barriers with the United States but has been unpopular in much of South America. Bush said he and Zelaya discussed ways to expand commercial opportunities between the two nations, and to ensure robust democracy in Latin America. Bush said he would seek to reassure Zelaya about a controversial U.S. immigration bill. “I assured him that my administration supports a comprehensive immigration bill that treats people with respect, and at the same time upholds our laws,” Bush said. “I will give him our strategy to continue to press for a comprehensive bill that will enforce our borders but allow people to come to our country in a legal way to work on a temporary basis.” Zelaya, speaking through a translator, thanked Bush for “the frankness with which he has spoken about the solutions to the common problems we face in the Western Hemisphere.”
