The so-called 'Gang Of Eight,' a group of Republican and Democratic U.S. senators examining illegal immigration in America, will propose on Friday a federal law that would put undocumented immigrants on a road toward amnesty for the crime of being in the United States illegally.
Illegal aliens would have to wait 10 years to apply for citizenship, during which time they would be eligible for work authorizations, but not for federal government benefits.
After ten years, they could apply for green cards, and appeal for citizenship. That process would take at least 3 years, and require the payment of a $2,000 fine. It would also require them to learn to speak English, to pay back taxes, and to pass a criminal background check.
Residents brought illegally to the U.S. as children - the so called DREAM Act kids - would be eligible for green cards and citizenship in five years, without any payments.
An April 10 rally in front of the U.S. Capitol brought tens of thousands of immigration advocates, and generated more subway traffic in Washington, D.C. than on the day of President Barack Obama's second inauguration
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio (L) is the child of Cuban emigres who has become the public face of immigration reform legislation. He appeared on all five major Sunday morning political talk shows on April 14, arguing against the idea that the Gang Of Eight plan was a conditional amnesty for illegal immigrants
An outline of the proposed law shared with reporters describes a massive and expensive effort to further secure the U.S.-Mexico border, while providing that pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal aliens.
Republicans have insisted that border security had to come before providing papers to illegals, and they got what they wanted. The bill will only allow the amnesty procedures to proceed after border security has made substantial progress.
That will be defined by a number of criteria, the clearest of which is a 90 per cent apprehension rate for illegal border crossings.
$4.5 billion would be appropriated for border security, including $1.5 billion for border fence construction. The balance would pay for other measures including the deployment of new unmanned drones, using radar technology from the Defense Department, hiring 3,500 new U.S. Border Patrol agents, and adding National Guard troops to those human resources.
If the bill becomes law, U.S. employers will also be subject to strict new requirements for verifying that their employees are permitted to work in the United States.
The bill was scheduled for a Tuesday introduction, but Senate leaders rescheduled the rollout for Friday after terrorist bombs rocked the Boston Marathon.
Gang Of Eight senators (L-R) Marco Rubio, Sens. John McCain, Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez have engaged in closed-door bipartisan negotiations on immigration reform for months
Border Patrol agents regularly detain illegal immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. This group told Border Patrol agents that they came from Mexico and El Salvador. An additional surge in immigrant traffic has begun since immigration reform negotiations began
Alex Conant, the communications director for Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, tweeted the news Monday that senators had 'lots of concern there wouldn't be enough time to read bill before Wednesday's Judiciary hearing, so hearing's been moved to Friday.'
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer - both Gang Of eight members - wrote that 'Americans will accept a common-sense approach to the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are here now, and to prospective legal immigrants, provided that there will be no future waves of illegal immigration.'
'We believe our legislation represents a responsible, humane and enduring solution to the problem of the millions who are here illegally,' they added, 'while continuing to attract and assimilate some of the most skilled talent the world has to offer—but only if we also make good on broken promises to secure U.S. borders and enforce the law.'
McCain and Schumer are scheduled to meet with President Obama at 3:45 Tuesday afternoon. A White House official told MailOnline that the meeting would likely focus on the president's commitments to wrangle his fellow Democrats to support the legislation.
California is the home of up a large number of illegal immigrants, including some who protested in front of the office of California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on April 10, in an attempt to persuade her to support immigration reform legislation
Illegal aliens would have to wait 10 years to apply for citizenship, during which time they would be eligible for work authorizations, but not for federal government benefits.
After ten years, they could apply for green cards, and appeal for citizenship. That process would take at least 3 years, and require the payment of a $2,000 fine. It would also require them to learn to speak English, to pay back taxes, and to pass a criminal background check.
Residents brought illegally to the U.S. as children - the so called DREAM Act kids - would be eligible for green cards and citizenship in five years, without any payments.
An April 10 rally in front of the U.S. Capitol brought tens of thousands of immigration advocates, and generated more subway traffic in Washington, D.C. than on the day of President Barack Obama's second inauguration
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio (L) is the child of Cuban emigres who has become the public face of immigration reform legislation. He appeared on all five major Sunday morning political talk shows on April 14, arguing against the idea that the Gang Of Eight plan was a conditional amnesty for illegal immigrants
An outline of the proposed law shared with reporters describes a massive and expensive effort to further secure the U.S.-Mexico border, while providing that pathway to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal aliens.
Republicans have insisted that border security had to come before providing papers to illegals, and they got what they wanted. The bill will only allow the amnesty procedures to proceed after border security has made substantial progress.
That will be defined by a number of criteria, the clearest of which is a 90 per cent apprehension rate for illegal border crossings.
$4.5 billion would be appropriated for border security, including $1.5 billion for border fence construction. The balance would pay for other measures including the deployment of new unmanned drones, using radar technology from the Defense Department, hiring 3,500 new U.S. Border Patrol agents, and adding National Guard troops to those human resources.
If the bill becomes law, U.S. employers will also be subject to strict new requirements for verifying that their employees are permitted to work in the United States.
The bill was scheduled for a Tuesday introduction, but Senate leaders rescheduled the rollout for Friday after terrorist bombs rocked the Boston Marathon.
Gang Of Eight senators (L-R) Marco Rubio, Sens. John McCain, Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez have engaged in closed-door bipartisan negotiations on immigration reform for months
Border Patrol agents regularly detain illegal immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. This group told Border Patrol agents that they came from Mexico and El Salvador. An additional surge in immigrant traffic has begun since immigration reform negotiations began
Alex Conant, the communications director for Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, tweeted the news Monday that senators had 'lots of concern there wouldn't be enough time to read bill before Wednesday's Judiciary hearing, so hearing's been moved to Friday.'
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer - both Gang Of eight members - wrote that 'Americans will accept a common-sense approach to the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are here now, and to prospective legal immigrants, provided that there will be no future waves of illegal immigration.'
'We believe our legislation represents a responsible, humane and enduring solution to the problem of the millions who are here illegally,' they added, 'while continuing to attract and assimilate some of the most skilled talent the world has to offer—but only if we also make good on broken promises to secure U.S. borders and enforce the law.'
McCain and Schumer are scheduled to meet with President Obama at 3:45 Tuesday afternoon. A White House official told MailOnline that the meeting would likely focus on the president's commitments to wrangle his fellow Democrats to support the legislation.
California is the home of up a large number of illegal immigrants, including some who protested in front of the office of California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on April 10, in an attempt to persuade her to support immigration reform legislation