Report: House "Gang Of 8" Immigration Plan Has 3 Paths To Citizenship/Legalization

God save us from legislative "gangs".

In an opinion article in The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, Representative Raúl R. Labrador, a Republican member of the group from Idaho, more explicitly laid out the path for Dreamers: “Those who entered the U.S. as children, through no fault of their own, will be allowed to have a pathway to citizenship.”

The second group to receive a path to legal permanent residence would be immigrants who have either a family or an employment relationship that would allow them to apply for legal status, except that they have already entered the country illegally. Currently, most of those immigrants would have to return to their home country for either 3 or 10 years before they would be eligible to reapply.

The House bill would most likely relax or waive those barriers. Immigrants would then have to return to their home country to apply for legal status, aides said, but could do so only after completing a series of hurdles including paying fines and back taxes and learning English, aides said.

The remaining illegal immigrants could apply for “provisional legal status” if they came forward and admitted breaking the law, paid fines and back taxes, and learned English, much as they could under the Senate plan, aides said. This status would allow them to live, work and travel in the country legally, and they could then apply through regular channels for a green card after 10 years and citizenship 5 years after that.

See it's not amnesty! It's just "relaxing" and "waiving" barriers. Silly wingnuts.

Note that the prize here isn't simply "a path to citizenship", it's automatic legalization. GOP amnesty leaders like Marco Rubio, say "border security must come first" but that means before citizenship. Legalization comes right away. I'm sure some, maybe most, illegals care about citizenship but that's just a cherry on top of being able to live and work here legally.

Speaking of Marco Rubio he said he'd walk away from any deal that didn't include the faux "trigger". Well, the Obama administration said no to them. Rubio also wanted extensive hearings on any legislation, Senate Democrats said no to that too.

Anyone think there's anything Democrats could do to make Rubio walk away?

His final political calculation will be fascinating. Mickey Kaus has a theory...Rubio will walk for show but support in the end.

Personally I don't care what polls say on this issue. I think over the course of the last two primaries the GOP as a party has made it clear where it stands on this issue. Still, some will say, "but the polls! The polls say Republicans support "a path to citizenship"". Well, not all of them.

Live by the polls, die by the polls.

Oh and a final thought....if amnesty is just the first in a long process of winning over Hispanics (you know, the natural conservatives) shouldn't we be seeing a bump from the 1986 amnesty any day now?

posted by DrewM. at 11:26 AM

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