The unveiled legislation promising sweeping changes to the nation's immigration system Tuesday has the support of President Obama, but while the major judiciary hearings on the bill are just getting underway, opponents of the bill have wasted no time taking their shots at the new legislation.
After weeks and roughly two months of work, the bipartisan U.S. Senate group known as the "Gang of Eight"--comprised of Republicans such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Democrats like Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.--filed their completed legislation with the Senate at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Fox News Latino reports.
The bill, roughly 844 pages, is expected to create a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, enforce border security, require businesses to check the legal status of their employees and create new visa programs for high- and low- skilled workers.
Known as the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity & Immigration Modernization Act of 2013," the bill was created as a compromise by Republicans and Democrats on the thorny issue of immigration, which was brought once again to the nation's forefront after Latinos voted in record numbers for President Obama over Mitt Romney in the November 2012 presidential elections.
Of all the provisions in the bill, the path to citizenship for immigrants will likely create the most debate and criticism from both sides.
The Senate panel agreed to provisions that allow undocumented immigrants to eventually have a chance to become U.S. citizens, but it involves a 13-year waiting period. Roughly 10 of those years will be spent by qualifying immigrants under a new provisional legal status that allows them to work and travel legally, but does not grant said immigrants access to federal benefits. Immigrants would also have to pay back thousands in fines taxes, and immigrants who entered the U.S. after Dec. 31, 2011 would be ineligible to apply.
President Obama issued a statement late Tuesday expressing support for the legislation and urging the Senate to move "quickly" to pass the bill into law.
"This bill is clearly a compromise, and no one will get everything they wanted, including me. But it is largely consistent with the principles that I have repeatedly laid out for comprehensive reform," President Obama said in the statement released by the White House. "This bill would continue to strengthen security at our borders and hold employers more accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers. It would provide a pathway to earned citizenship for the 11 million individuals who are already in this country illegally. And it would modernize our legal immigration system so that we're able to reunite families and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers who will help create good paying jobs and grow our economy."
However, critics on both the right and the left are already emerging to air their grievances with the bill. For some on the left, the path to citizenship seems too long and fraught with obstacles and delays that leave thousands of immigrants without a chance to become legal citizens. And the idea of the border being secure first before immigrants can start on a path to citizenship does not sit well with them, either.
"The proposed legislation falls short by placing unnecessary obstacles and delays in the path to citizenship and could unfairly exclude some of the 11 million aspiring Americans who are our neighbors, friends, family and fellow-worshippers," Bishop Ricardo McClin, pastor of the Church of God Restoration in Kissimmee, Fla., and a member of PICO National Network, a faith-based organizing network, told the Associated Press. "PICO will be pressing for changes to make sure that the path to citizenship is real for the families in our congregations."
Late night comedians Jay Leno and Jon Stewart have wasted no time making light of the length of time it will take for immigrants to become U.S. citizens under the pathway to citizenship in the bill.
Meanwhile on the right, some Republicans were calling the bill tantamount to offering "amnesty" to immigrants living illegally in the nation and posing a threat to U.S. workers who could have their wages driven down.
"The amount of immigration is going to be far more than most Americans think," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. Having expressed his reluctance on the bill in the past, Sen. Sessions believes the Senate might kill the bill, as they did to similar legislation in 2007, after more facts become clear.
"Matter of fact, I don't think it's going to become law as written. It's far more monumental than people realize," Sessions added.
Still, both bipartisan panel members and business and labor groups have supported the bill, many pointing to it as an imperfect, but long-awaited chance to make changes to the nation's immigration laws.
Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, applauded the legislation as a breakthrough in the push for immigration reform and called for lawmakers to work "as quickly as possible to pass a bill."
"This legislation, while not perfect, is a monumental step forward in ensuring that this nation has a fair, humane and effective 21st-century immigration policy that serves our nation's best interests and works for all Americans, including families, workers and businesses. It is especially important that this legislation includes a real roadmap for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status and eventual citizenship, one that is true to our nation's history, our laws and our values," Murguía said in a statement.
Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Schumer both of who were part of the bipartisan panel, defended the bill, expressing confidence that the bill would pass and noting that the bill was clearly a compromise on the issues regarding immigration reform.
"No one's going to get everything they want in a bill," Sen. Schumer told reporters following a White House meeting on Tuesday. "But if we meet in the middle, we can do a lot of good for America."
"All major players that are involved in this issue are now on-board, literally every major player, whether it be business or labor," Sen. McCain said.
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