U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to discuss the controversial immigration reform issue Monday when he addressed a group of California businessmen, including members from his Republican party who disagree with his immigration policies.

The president will deliver his remarks to the Orange County Business Council in Irvine, nearly 70 kilometers south of downtown Los Angeles, in the morning and then leave on Air Force One at the end of a four-day California visit.

Bush has been criticized for appearing mostly before groups that agree with his views on the issue, but that will not be the case Monday, the Los Angeles-based CNS news service reported.

The president's decision to talk about immigration in Orange County, where opposition to illegal immigration is high and where Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist lives, could be an embarrassing miscalculation, John Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, said.

White House spokesman Alex Conant told a local newspaper that he could not explain why Orange County was picked for Bush's immigration speech.

Bush supports a guest worker program but also strengthening border enforcement.

When the Senate reconvenes this week in Washington, it is expected to take up immigration legislation that stalled two weeks ago.

The legislation contained provisions to bolster border security, start a temporary guest-worker program and provide a path for legalization of some illegal immigrants, now estimated to be as many as 12 million across the United States.

The issue has sparked demonstrations in Los Angeles and surrounding areas, as it has nationwide, with protesters particularly critical of a plan in Orange County to train police officers to enforce immigration law in connection with felony investigations.

Source: Xinhua