Republicans Focus on Guest Workers in Immigration Debate

At least they have started talking, I am sure this will go on for many months. - - Donna Poisl

By JEFF ZELENY and GINGER THOMPSON

WASHINGTON — President Obama told a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Thursday that Congress should begin debating a comprehensive immigration plan by year’s end or early next year, but Republicans said they would support a measure only if it included an expansion of guest worker programs.

Leading the call for that provision was Senator John McCain of Arizona, who told Mr. Obama he would have to take his “political lumps” and stand up to labor unions that oppose the idea. The president praised Mr. McCain for paying “a significant political cost for doing the right thing.”

In the State Dining Room, Mr. Obama met with about 30 lawmakers for the first substantial discussion on immigration since he took office.
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