AMERICAN CONSERVATIVES AND IMMIGRATION POLICY DURING GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENCY

Immigration reform in the United States is one of the hottest topics in politics, causing a split in American socie-ty. Numerous attempts by presidents and Congress to reform this sphere ended either in failure or in half-hearted measures that dissatisfied both supporters of immigration and its opponents. The article examines the role of Ameri-can conservatives in blocking the liberal immigration reform of the George W. Bush administration in 2006-2008. I a very short period, representatives of various currents of the U.S. conservative movement were able to consolidate their positions on the basis of an anti-immigrant platform and use new tools of influence, both in relation to con -gressmen and in the formation of public opinion. The article analyzes the role of social networks and a new pheno-menon in the conservative movement (the name was originally proposed by The New York Times) such as a "New Internet-linked national constituency", which managed to very quickly and effectively close ranks among the oppo-nents of the president's "grand bargain" and destroy the unity of the pro-immigrant-minded elite. The article eva-luates the actions of George W. Bush to initiate the immigration reform and explores the nature of the conflict be-tween conservatives and the president. Analysis of various aspects of the political conflict that arose in 2006-2008 between the restrictionists and the president helps in better understanding of the situation within the conservative movement and the prospects for its development.