Former President George W. Bush hosted a ceremony on Wednesday where he cautiously spoke about immigration reform efforts in Congress, urging the need for debate to achieve a "positive result" for the U.S., a country founded by immigrants.
"We can uphold our tradition of assimilating immigrants, and honoring our heritage of our nation built on the rule of the law," he said. "But we have a problem. The laws governing the immigration system aren't working, the system is broken."
Bush noted that the United States is a nation of laws, and stressed the need to enforce those laws, but emphasized the need to practice compassion simultaneously. "America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time," he said.
The remarks were made during a naturalization ceremony held at the newly-opened George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas. During the ceremony, 20 individuals representing 12 different countries were sworn in as U.S. citizens by officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Each of the 20 newly sworn in Americans received their naturalization certificates, along with a handshake from the former president, CNN reports.
"It's an honor to call you fellow Americans," Bush told the group.
The ceremony was held mere hours before House Republicans are scheduled to come together for a crucial closed-door meeting to discuss how to handle immigration reform, the Washington Times reports.
"I don't intend to get involved in the politics of the specifics of policy, but I do hope there is a positive resolution to the debate," Bush said. "I hope during the debate that we keep a benevolent spirit in mind...[that] we understand the contributions immigrants make to our country."
Underscoring these contributions was a report released on Wednesday by the Obama administration, saying that if the Senate-based immigration reform bill passed in the House it would result in more highly-skilled workers moving to the U.S., more businesses being launched, an increase in revenue, and more jobs being created, according to Entrepreneur.com.
However, CBS News reports that it's unlikely that the House will come to an agreement with the Senate on immigration reform. This is due in large part to the adamant stance of most conservative members of the House GOP caucus against creating an achievable pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in America—a key provision of the Senate legislation.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said recently on "CBS This Morning" that Congress has "no moral obligation to [provide that pathway]. They came here to live in the shadows, they had to expect they were going to live in the shadows."
House Republicans have reportedly said that they would prefer to tackle immigration reform in small steps, rather than the comprehensive approach favored by the Senate. Subsequently, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said that he does not intend to bring the Senate bill to the floor for a vote with majority support from the House, which the bill certainly doesn't have ... at least yet.