Senators Offer a Bipartisan Blueprint for Immigration

[tac]

Senators Offer a Bipartisan Blueprint for Immigration


By JULIA PRESTON

A bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a set of principles for a sweeping overhaul of the immigration system, including a pathway to American citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants that would hinge on progress in securing the borders and ensuring that foreigners leave the country when their visas expire.

The senators were able to reach a deal by incorporating the Democrats’ insistence on a single comprehensive bill that would not deny eventual citizenship to illegal immigrants, with Republican demands that strong border and interior enforcement had to be clearly in place before Congress could consider legal status for illegal immigrants.

Their blueprint, unveiled on Monday, will allow them to stake out their position one day before President Obama outlines his immigration proposals in a speech on Tuesday in Las Vegas, in the opening moves of what lawmakers expect will be a protracted and contentious debate in Congress this year.

Lawmakers said they were optimistic that the political mood had changed since a similar effort collapsed in acrimony in 2010. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and one of the negotiators, said he saw “a new appreciation” among Republicans of the need for an overhaul.

“Look at the last election,” Mr. McCain said Sunday morning on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” “We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours.” The senator also said he had seen “significant improvements” in border enforcement, although “we’ve still got a ways to go.”

He added, “We can’t go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in an illegal status.”

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Amnesty by any other name is still amnesty. The 11 M figure for the number of illegals in this country is smoke and mirrors. They are illegal so how will they know the actual numbers? If they could get away with it, they'd say there were only 5 or 6 M! If McCain believes that granting them amnesty will lead them to the GOP, he's dreaming. 

Many say we can't round up and deport all the illegals in the country. They are probably correct, but we can eliminate the reasons that they come here in the first place.

The costs for the state and federal government are staggering. Estimates by FAIR place the federal burden at $113 Billion, and the cost to AZ ar ~ $2.5 billion. That's a pretty good chunk of change, especially for the tax payers. source

[JohnnyReb]

I voted for Lindsey Graham twice just to keep an "R" on his senate seat....I'm not going to do it again.

[Dori]

Amnesty by any other name is still amnesty. The 11 M figure for the number of illegals in this country is smoke and mirrors. They are illegal so how will they know the actual numbers? If they could get away with it, they'd say there were only 5 or 6 M! If McCain believes that granting them amnesty will lead them to the GOP, he's dreaming.  \[/url]

Exactly.  They've  been using that 11 million number since Bush first took office in 2000. That was 13 years ago.  Southern Calif. alone probably has that many.  

I do agree something needs to be done, but since the last push they still haven't done what is needed ...... CLOSE THE DAMNED BORDER FIRST, then we'll talk.

[DefiantSix]

::sigh::

Preparing to assume the position. Again.