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Eight senators complete draft on path to legal status for illegal immigrants

Bipartisan senators are crafting a bipartisan overhaul of immigration laws

IrishCentral Staff Writers,

Published Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 7:32 AM

Updated Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 7:32 AM

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The group of senators are expected to deliver a completed immigration reform bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration

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The group of eight senators who have spent two months crafting a bipartisan immigration reform bill, have agreed on how they intend to offer legal status to the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

The LA Times reports that the contentious bill will require all illegal immigrants to register with Homeland Security Department authorities, file federal income taxes for their time in America and pay a still-to-be-determined fine. Applicants must also have no criminal record.

If they are granted probationary legal status, they would be allowed to work legally, but not be eligible for federal public benefits, including food stamps, family cash assistance, Medicaid and unemployment insurance. Currently, undocumented immigrants have access to none of these benefits.

It is still unknown how long undocumented illegal immigrants would need to wait before they could apply for permanent resident status and eventually become citizens.

The group of senators are expected to deliver a completed bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration by next month.

The group includes Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona. The Democrats are Sens. Charles E. Schumer of New York, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado.

Angela Kelley, an immigration expert at the Center for American Progress thinks such a bipartisan bill represents a shift in attitudes.

"Nine months ago, people would have thought you were nuts to say that four Republicans and four Democrats were working on a way to legalize 11 million people," Kelley told the Times.

"It's a Rubik's Cube, but more sides are matching in color than ever before. That's significant.”

See more: Irish immigration , Irish Republicans , Irish Democrats , Irish in US Politics

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Seanmor | Mar 15, 2013, 12:13 AM EDT

The 2 previous comments seem to suggest that even if the undocumented Irish[almost none of whom entered the U.S. illegally y, because they had visitors' visas] are granted amnesty, those hard working, tax-paying, English-speaking residents will still have to wait another 5 to 10 years before they qualify for citizenship. Now I'm reminded of the current article on Irish Central about the heroism of the Irishmen who fought and died in the Union Army at Fredericksburg, but to my knowledge, none of the countrries from the which the 12 million illegally entered the U.S. via our Southern border had so much as a single unit in the Union Army. Our elected officials seem to be missing something here.

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FastEddy | Mar 12, 2013, 01:00 PM EDT

saraindc: "... they are even saying if you have paid taxes and have no record you're still going to be waiting at least 10-15 years to qualify for citizenship as you'll have to wait to get a green card after those legally applying qualify, you then have to wait 5 years before you even qualify for citizenship so its well over 10 years if they follow their intended plan that was already mentioned! ..." Yup, there are at least 10 Million meskins in line ahead of you ... a few of which have been paying their taxes and keeping their noses clean, too.

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saraindc | Mar 12, 2013, 10:39 AM EDT

I think they will push it through this time but i wouldnt hold my breath if you're illegal irish. If you havent paid your taxes and you have any kind of black mark record, you will be at the back of the line. they are even saying if you have paid taxes and have no record you're still going to be waiting at least 10-15 years to qualify for citizenship as you'll have to wait to get a green card after those legally applying qualify, you then have to wait 5 years before you even qualify for citizenship so its well over 10 years if they follow their intended plan that was already mentioned! Makes you wonder how many illegals are going to come forward if they can't prove they paid taxes or the fines will make it take even longer if they havent paid taxes and that could also cause issues for employers who paid them under the counter as they are breaching their tax duties too!! this is gonna get messy - wouldnt like to be the guys who are paying illegals becuase once the illegal comes forward, your name is out there for tax fraud!!

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pilib04 | Mar 12, 2013, 10:12 AM EDT

Hopefully we will see an immigration reform bill, with a path to citizenship, that can be passed and presented to the President for his signature! Long overdue!

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