Bush Runs Into Opposition in Guatemala (AP)

[Eugene]

Bush Runs Into Opposition in Guatemala

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer

Monday, March 12, 2007

(03-12) 15:47 PDT GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) --

President Bush's message of goodwill in Latin American ran into a wall in Guatemala
on Monday, as his defense of U.S. immigration law met with disapproval from his hosts.

Bush's meetings here with President Oscar Berger, a conservative leader who has
become a strong U.S. ally, were dominated by trade and the difficult issue of
immigration policy.

Bush pleased Guatemalans by promising to push hard, and quickly, for changes that
would include a temporary-worker program for illegal workers in the United States.
He said he thinks it is possible to wrest legislation out of the U.S. Congress, still
deeply divided over the issue, by August.

But he gave no ground in the face of questions over deportations of illegal workers,
such as a raid in Massachusetts last week. Federal authorities detained over 300
employees of a leather goods maker — most from Guatemala and El Salvador — for
possible deportation as illegal aliens. The raid left dozens of young children
stranded at schools and with baby sitters.

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Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/12/international/i154707D03.DTL