GOP and Democratic leaders agree on path to citizenship in immigration bill

Up to 30,000 undocumented Irish could gain from proposed changes in law

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The bipartisan group hoping to bring immigration reform is led by Senator Charles Schumer of New York and Senator John McCain of Arizona and includes key senators from both sides.

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‘That has to be also part of it,’ McCain told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz on ‘This Week’ when asked whether a pathway to citizenship would be a component of reform. ‘There’s a new appreciation on both sides of the aisle including, maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle, that we have to enact comprehensive immigration reform.’…Menendez, who met with President Obama on Friday along with other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus leadership, said that the president expressed his full commitment to reform. ‘The president made it very clear in that discussion that this was a top legislative priority for him in this session of the Congress and that he expects to work with all of us in an effort to achieve that goal and he’s fully committed to it.’…On the politics of the issue, Menendez laid it out clearly: ‘First, Americans support it in poll after poll. Secondly, Latino voters expect it. Thirdly Democrats want it. And fourth Republicans need it,’ Menendez said.”

Also, on Fox News Sunday, Senator Dick Durbin, who is also one of the six Senators in the working group on immigration, said citizenship is a part of their plan. As reported by the Washington Post’s “The Fix” blog: “The Senate’s second-ranking Democrat said Sunday that a soon-to-be-introduced immigration reform measure will be a broad package that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. ‘We are committed to a comprehensive approach,’ Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’”

Read more: Lawmakers to press for driving licenses for illegals in Massachusetts

On  NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) reiterated his support for Senator Marco Rubio’s set of principles on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this morning.  According to a recap posted by NBC, “Ryan, who has praised a bipartisan set of immigration reforms offered by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, R, said he was cautiously optimistic about the prospects for immigration reform this year. But Ryan said that Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike would closely watch Obama's speech on Tuesday in Nevada on that topic.”  While we welcome Ryan’s support for a pathway to legal status for the 11 million immigrants, the details behind Rubio’s plan remain unclear and the question of how long immigrants will have to wait in line for citizenship remains unanswered.  When it comes to citizenship under Rubio’s proposal, the devil will be in the details. 

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