Sen. Marco Rubio and the Senate’s Gang of Eight filed an immigration reform proposal today. (Photo by Gage Skidmore.)
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
The Senate’s bipartisan Gang of Eight — which includes Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio — filed their long-awaited immigration reform plan today.
The plan includes providing more security along the border between Mexico and the United States and a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants who have been living in the country for a significant amount of time.
While each measure was intended to attract support from Republicans and Democrats, respectively, there is already concern about resistance to the Gang of Eight’s proposal.
Immigration advocates and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle expressed discomfort on Tuesday with the immigration reform bill set out by the bipartisan “Gang of 8″ for various reasons.
“There’s enough in the bill to dissuade Republicans, and there’s enough in the bill to dissuade Democrats,” said Daniel Garza, head of the LIBRE Initiative, a conservative Latino advocacy group. “But there’s also enough in the bill to encourage and motivate both to get together.”
The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act would institute a 13-year process for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. before 2012 to become citizens, along with separate tracks for younger immigrants and increased visa caps for both science and technology workers, as well as workers in other industry.
While commending the senatorial group for making progress, DRM Action Coalition spokesperson Cesar Vargas told The Raw Story his group would be working to protect younger immigrants as the bill goes forward, specifically naming three potential opponents to the measure in the Senate.
Rubio’s decision to spearhead immigration reform has been as much about party strategy as it has been about responding to growing public support for comprehensive immigration reform. Last year was a bad one for the GOP among minority voters. Taking on immigration in a way that changes the GOP’s tone toward immigrants has been among Rubio’s goals.
[Rubio], a key member of the group who has been responsible for selling the bill to conservative members of the Republican Party, said the final product represents a “tough but humane” way to deal with the nation’s unauthorized immigrants while securing the border and fixing the legal immigration system to better suit the nation’s economy.
“While I believe this legislation is a strong conservative effort that will accomplish all these things and tries to make the best of the imperfect reality we face, it’s not perfect,” Rubio said in a statement Wednesday morning. “But I am also confident that an open and transparent process that welcomes public input i going to make it even better.”
In the coming weeks, members of both parties will decide whether to support or oppose the Gang of Eight’s proposal. It is also very likely that some provisions of the bill will change as it makes its way through the legislative process.
President Barack Obama has said he wants Congress to work quickly to pass immigration reform, once and for all. If Congress cannot make progress on its own proposal, the president will push forward his own plans, which are significantly more liberal than the Senate’s proposal.