Senator Ted Cruz says he’s concerned about ‘proposed path to citizenship’ in bipartisan immigration reform proposal
Today, a bipartisan group of eight Senators announced the bipartisan framework for comprehensive immigration reform, which cover a wide array of immigration issues as border security and legalization and eventually full citizenship to the millions of undocumented immigrants.
According to a Washington Post report today, the group outlined the key balance in its proposed framework: Legalization would be afforded almost immediately to the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, provided they pay back taxes and a fine. But the opportunity to pursue full citizenship would not become available until the border was secured and new systems were in place for employers to verify workers’ immigration status and for the government to ensure that legal immigrants cannot overstay their visas.
New Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz made a statement today definitely having mixed feelings about the bipartisan framework:
I appreciate the good work that senators in both parties have put into trying to fix our broken immigration system. There are some good elements in this proposal, especially increasing the resources and manpower to secure our border and also improving and streamlining legal immigration. However, I have deep concerns with the proposed path to citizenship. To allow those who came here illegally to be placed on such a path is both inconsistent with rule of law and profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who waited years, if not decades, to come to America legally.
President Obama is expected to present his own proposal Tuesday.