Bush, Pelosi use Cinco de Mayo to discuss immigration

President Bush and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) used Saturday’s celebration of Cinco De Mayo to highlight the importance of comprehensive immigration reform.

In a Rose Garden ceremony celebrating the Mexican holiday, Bush said Friday that the time has come for immigration reform, an issue on which he is closer to the views of the Democrats than those of many in his own party. The current immigration system, the president said, “is not working.”

{mosads}“We need a system where our laws are respected,” Bush stated. “We need a system that meets the needs of our economy. And we need a system that treats people with dignity and helps newcomers assimilate into our society.”

Bush reiterated that he supports immigration reform that increases border security but that also allows the U.S. to be “competitive in the global economy.” In addition, the president pledged to find a way to resolve the “status” of illegal immigrants already in the country “without amnesty and without animosity.”

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates the Battle of Puebla in 1862, Pelosi announced the U.S. members of the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group.

Pelosi said she has spoken with the president of the Mexican Senate, Manilo Fabio Beltrones, about the group’s upcoming discussions “to work to increase opportunity and prosperity for people on both sides of the border.”

The 12 bipartisan lawmakers appointed to the group include: Chairman Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.), Vice-Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), and Reps. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), Hilda Solis (D-Calif), Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas), Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), David Dreier (R-Calif.), Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), Connie Mack (R-Fla.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuno (R-Puerto Rico).