WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush defended his temporary worker program on Monday, urging the Congress to approve his proposal of comprehensive immigration reform.

    In a speech at a naturalization ceremony, Bush said a new temporary worker program, part of the comprehensive immigration reform, would make the immigration system more "rational, orderly and secure."

    The program would provide a legal way to match willing foreign workers with willing American employers to fill the jobs that Americans were unwilling to do, and "would help meet the demands of a growing economy, and it would allow honest workers to providefor their families while respecting the law," he said.

    Bush said he firmly opposed amnesty, but that foreign workers "should be able to register for legal status on a temporary basis."

    "If they decide to apply for citizenship, they would have to get in line," he said.

    The temporary worker program was vital to securing American border, and would improve security by creating tamper-proof identification cards that would allow authorities to keep track of every temporary worker who was here on a legal basis and help identify those who were here illegally, he said.

    Other elements of his proposal for comprehensive immigration reform included securing the border and strengthening immigration enforcement inside the country.

    Since he took office, Bush said, the government had expanded the Border Patrol to more than 12,000 agents, an increase of more than 2,700 agents, and the agents had apprehended and sent home more than 6 million people entering the country illegally.

    The president urged the Congress to pass a comprehensive bill that secures the border, improves interior enforcement and creates a temporary worker program to strengthen U.S. security and economy.

    The House has passed an immigration bill that would make criminals all undocumented immigrants, estimated at 12 million, inside the country, and require all employers to verify the immigration status of their employees.

    The Senate took up the immigration issue on Monday, but the Judiciary Committee refused to make humanitarian groups or individuals to help illegal immigrants criminals.

    Thousands of protesters took to the street last Saturday in Los Angeles, demanding amnesty for undocumented immigrants. Enditem