Ari Fleischer's is President Bush's Press Secretary. A transcript of all his Press Briefings can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/.

Today's (Jan. 9) press briefing contained the following exchange on immigration.

Q    Ari, on immigration, with the fact that the President believes that an accord with Mexican immigration is a priority for his administration -- will start tomorrow morning, how the President is going to deal with the opposition in this election year from the Republican Party about -- with Mexico on immigration?

MR. FLEISCHER:  You called it opposition in the Republican Party?  Let me remind you there's opposition in both parties to increasing, or to helping immigrants come to America.  And that's something the President has taken on within his own party before. As Governor of Texas, the President challenged the Republican Party's immigration policies.  And the President has made it clear in his policies on either 245-I or on welcoming immigrants into this country, that he believes that immigrants are a wonderful and important part of making America a stronger country.

Q    But he believes he can reach an agreement with President Fox this year about the proposals the President of Mexico made to him in September before the attacks?

MR. FLEISCHER:  Well, again, as a result of the war, the efforts of the agencies who were most involved in the negotiations with Mexico -- in this case, the Attorney General's Office -- they have, unfortunately, found themselves in the middle of other priorities, which is to fight a war against terrorism.  And that has kept them away from entering into a timetable that we would have hoped on some of these issues.  So I'm not prepared to guess at any timetable.  But suffice it to say it remains an important priority for the President.  It's something I've heard him talk about often.

And continuing on the immigration theme, Linda Chavez's, Center For Equal Opportunity released a few weeks ago an immigration policy report. You can read the full report at  http://www.ceousa.org/html/After911.html. Below is the executive summary teaser, but the real statements are in the report:

IMMIGRATION POLICY AFTER SEPTEMBER 11
Executive Summary 

Of all the changes President Bush brought to Washington, one of the most notable was a new  openness toward immigrants.  In a series of meetings with Mexican President Vicente Fox, President Bush openly discussed plans to allow millions of illegal immigrants to come out of the shadows and obtain legal status.  The Administration also supported the business community’s requests for additional immigrant workers and promised to reform the Immigration and Naturalization Service so that it would provide more friendly and efficient service.

However, September 11 changed the debate about immigration policy dramatically.  The country is now rightfully concerned first and foremost about national security, and immigration policies premised on welcoming more newcomers to our shores are out of favor.  Moreover, because of the economic repercussions of the terrorist attacks, the business community has much less demand for new immigrant workers.

These difficult days have produced a flood of new proposals to reform our immigration process. Unfortunately, some proposals are unwise and, in some cases, dangerous.  This Policy Brief highlights two of the most unwise policy proposals that have been widely discussed, and then outlines several important initiatives that could help enhance our national security while also being consistent with our country’s long tradition of welcoming new immigrants.