After months of waiting, a bipartisan collection of senators is near ready to unveil the hotly contested US immigration reform.
The now notorious “gang of eight” is making their finishing touches in lieu of the reform’s Tuesday debut. This reform would provide a path to citizenship for the approximately 11 million individuals who have overstayed or have entered the U.S. illegally.
The immigration reform debut has gained a large amount of media exposure due to Senator Marco Rubio’s media blitz which included 7 major talk shows this past Sunday.
However Rubio and the rest of the now notorious gang-of-eight have not been met by all with open arms from Senators Jeff Session of Alabama and Mike Lee of Utah. Who call for border security as a corollary to the proposed results of the reform.
In response to the opposition, Senator Rubio has highlighted security provisions of the reform which include (1) a fine, (2) an application fee, and (3) a background check.
Other results of the reform if passed would be putting millions of individuals who entered illegally on a 13-year path to citizenship, the strengthening of border security, requiring employers to check legal status of their employees and the admittance of tens of thousands of workers, both skilled and unskilled.
On the eve of the immigration legislation debut, it is evident that the debate over immigration reform is far from over and that the next few days could be both controversial and influential.
