The team of eight senators- four Republicans and four Democrats- formally presented today in the U.S. Senate their immigration reform bill, which is backed up with the support of President Barack Obama.
"Our immigration system is broken and the status quo in which we have 11 million undocumented persons in a de facto amnesty will continue if we do nothing to solve this problem," said Marco Rubio in a statement.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama endorsed the proposed immigration reform bill that has been negotiated for months and called for its urgent approval, and ensured that it's a "consensual" plan.
"I urge the Senate to quickly move this bill forward and, as I told Senators Schumer and McCain, I stand willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that comprehensive immigration reform becomes a reality as soon as possible," said Obama in a statement that was issued by the White House.
According to Rubio's office, the bill "contains the most severe measures of control of the border in U.S. history."
Proponents emphasized that this measure will not grant amnesty to the more than 11 million people, which according to most estimates; many have lived and work in the United States for decades without documents like legal residents.
According to the explanation given Rubio's office, undocumented immigrants cannot apply for a temporary visa until "the plan for border security is enforced."
Among other things, the plan sets forth a period of 10 years for the legalization of undocumented, 3 billion for border security; 1.5 billion million for more fences on the border, and funds to hire 3,500 more agents. It will also punish companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers.
The plan establishes a period of 10 years for the Department of Homeland Security to verify border security before beginning a plan to legalize undocumented immigrants.
Editorial@sandiegored.com
Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com
