France's minister of immigration and national identity ruled out a mass normalization of illegal immigrants and said that policy would be dictated by firmness and pragmatism.

President Bush is committed to comprehensive immigration reform that secures America's borders, improves enforcement of immigration laws, and upholds our values.

Last week, President Bush reaffirmed his support for overhauling America's immigration system to provide a path to eventual citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the country. One of the most contentious issues in the immigration debate is the effect that undocumented workers have on the U.S. labor market.

Thousands of people demonstrated across the United States on May day demanding immigration reforms so that more than 12 million illegal immigrants working in the country can achieve citizenship.

Members of a bipartisan group of U.S. senators are pushing to reach agreement on immigration reform that would offer some illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens and the coming month will prove critical to their efforts

141 illegal immigrants, most from Iraq, were detained and rescued from a boat stranded near Athens on Thursday. Police arrested four people suspected of smuggling the migrants, the Merchant Marine Ministry said.

Australia and the United States have signed an unusual deal to swap illegal asylum seekers. The plan is for refugees held by the U.S. in Guantanamo Bay to be resettled in Australia, while Australia will send boat people from its detention centers on South Pacific islands to the United States. The aim is to deter people smuggling into the two countries.

Illegal immigration. About the only agreement in the vitriolic debate is that illegal immigration one of America's thorniest hot-button issues and will play a pivotal role in the 2008 presidential election. But right now, politicians are tap-dancing around the topic with few solutions. So the big question remains: is there a logical and humane solution that benefits the United States and Mexico?