In a town hall meeting on September 17 in Oregon City, Oregon Vice President Dick Cheney addressed a question regarding the Bush administration’s intentions of securing and strengthening the United States’ border if the president was to be reelected in November.

The Vice President responded first by asserting the fact that a lot had been achieved in border control during the tenure of the Bush administration, but that there was still a lot more to be accomplished.  Cheney continued by stressing the idea that a “crucial characteristic…of American identity” lies in our history of free flowing goods, people and ideas, with borders that allow people to pass back and forth freely. 

He followed, however, by acknowledging that this tradition of openness has made the United States vulnerable to threats, such as threats by terrorists.  With this reality present, Cheney affirmed that the United States must take measures to protect itself from the threat of terrorist without diminishing this tradition or risking harm to basic economic policies such as international commerce.

To accomplish this, Cheney stated that the Bush administration would especially look toward visa policies regarding those wishing to visit the United States.  Also on the list was advancement towards better control and cooperation with the Canadian and Mexican borders to make sure the problem of illegal immigration was diminished.  Furthermore, he declared that the administration has reorganized the Department of Homeland Security, combining such offices as Border Patrol and Customs and “beefing up their services.” 

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The Washington Post reported that ProjectUSA, an organization opposed to looser immigration policies, caught the discrepancy between the Bush campaign's Spanish language and English language websites. The paper reported that on the Spanish website, prominent display is given to a translation of Bush's Jan. 7 speech proposing an immigration plan involving 'guest workers' and the Mexican flag is displayed prominently in the main photograph. However, this same speech is missing from the Bush campaign's English language website, which includes almost every speech Bush gives.

According to The Washington Post, a Bush campaign official said that the missing immigration speech was 'a complete oversight' and quickly posted the Jan. 7 speech on the English language website, but the Mexican flag remains on the Spanish language website.