US immigration proposal would offer 'eight-year path to legal residency'


 The White House is planning to tackle illegal immigration by allowing undocumented workers a path to permanent residence within eight years of passing government requirements, according to reports.

A leaked copy of the draft bill, first reported by USA Today, contains provisions that would allow the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented workers to seek a "lawful prospective immigrant" visa that would allow them to live and work freely in the country.

Prospective visa holders would have to pass a criminal background check and submit to biometric tests, according to the document. Eight years after receiving the visa they would be eligible to apply for a green card, which allows permanent residency. Green card holders are able to apply for full US citizenship five years after being granted residency.

The White House declined to comment on the details of the report. But in a statement, White House spokesman Clark Stevens said: "The president has made clear the principles upon which he believes any common-sense immigration reform effort should be based. We continue to work in support of a bipartisan effort, and while the president has made clear he will move forward if Congress fails to act, progress continues to be made and the administration has not prepared a final bill to submit."

The proposal seemed unlikely to win cross-party support despite containing elements from a bipartisan plan now being drawn up by senators including Florida Republican Marco Rubio, seen as a 2016 presidential hopeful.

"Presidents #immigration plan repeats 2 many of mistakes of past. bipartisan plan being developed in Senate will be better,fair & responsible," Rubio said on Twitter.

In a statement his office called the plan "half-baked and seriously flawed" and declared that "if actually proposed, the president's bill would be dead on arrival in Congress".

President Barack Obama addressed immigration reform in his state of the union speech last week. "Real reform means establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship – a path that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, learning English, and going to the back of the line behind the folks trying to come here legally," he said.

"And real reform means fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting periods, reduce bureaucracy, and attract the highly skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs and grow our economy."

Eight senators have been working on a framework for immigration reform and last month released a blueprint that was praised by Obama.

The senators called the proposals "tough but fair". Undocumented workers seeking temporary legal residency would have to pay a fine and undergo background checks. They would not be able to pursue permanent residency until the US border is more secure. The definition of security has Democratic reformers worried that the bill will face long delays.

"If Congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away," Obama said in Las Vegas last month.

Any major bill on immigration reform will be the first since 1986, when president Ronald Reagan legalised nearly 3 million immigrants.

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