Former US president George W Bush backs immigration reform

Former US president George W. Bush, who normally stays out of current political issues, waded briefly into America's immigration debate in an interview, urging Congress to pass legislation to overhaul the system.

"It's very important to fix a broken system, to treat people with respect and have confidence in our capacity to assimilate people," Bush said on on ABC News.

"It's a very difficult bill to pass. The legislative process can be ugly. But it looks like they're making some progress."

Bush was a champion of immigration changes during his presidency, and his failure to pass such legislation was one of his biggest disappointments.

US President Barack Obama has effectively picked up the baton in pressing for a similar proposal to create a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, aided by newfound support among Republicans worried about the electoral implications of alienating a growing Latino vote.

Bush said politics should not be the primary motivation for reshaping immigration laws. "The reason to pass immigration reform is not to bolster a Republican Party," he said. "It's to fix a system that's broken. Good policy yields good politics."