Video Highlights: Bipartisan Group of Senators Lay Out Goals for Immigration Reform
A bipartisan group of eight senators announced their plan for immigration reform. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said they are aiming for immigration legislation by March and it is their hope that the Senate will pass it in late spring or summer.
Joined today by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Sen. Schumer said, “This bipartisan blueprint is a major breakthrough.”
According to Sen. Schumer, when he and Sen. Durbin updated President Obama on their plan yesterday, he strongly supported their effort. Schumer said, “The key to our compromise is to recognize that Americans overwhelming oppose illegal immigration and support legal immigration.”
Their framework contains four basic pillars. It includes a tough but fair path to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. that is contingent upon securing borders, reforming the legal immigration system in a way that betters the economy and strengthens American families, creating an effective employment verification system to end the hiring of unauthorized workers, and lastly, establishing an approved process for admitting future workers.
On day one of their bill, of the 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally, those who are not criminals or security risks will be able to live and work legally.
READ: John McCain Releases Statement on Bipartisan Framework for Immigration Reform
Sen. Schumer's statement:
Sen. McCain's remarks:
