A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House has reached a deal on reforming the immigration laws of the United States. Similar to the immigration reform bill of the Gang of Eight, the members of the House have also come up with an immigration reform legislation. Their bill would create a 15-year path to US citizenship which is longer than the 13-year citizenship plan included in the Senate immigration reform bill. The members of the House who crafted this bill believe that their bill would convince the members of both the House and the Senate. Nevertheless, immigration activists and Democrats who are already unhappy about the Senate bill that would make the undocumented immigrants to wait for 13 long years to become US citizens, may not support the new bill crafted by the members of the House as that bill would require the undocumented immigrants to wait for 15 years to obtain US citizenship.
However, there are few Republicans who do not want the country to legalize the undocumented immigrants and this House immigration reform bill is likely to attract such Republicans. The House bill and the Senate bill include similar provisions and both the bills would require the undocumented immigrants to wait for ten years to become permanent residents. According to the Senate bill, undocumented immigrants must wait for three years to become US citizens and the House bill would grant them authorization to apply for citizenship status, five years after becoming permanent residents. Hence, the House bill would require the undocumented immigrants to wait for a long time to apply for US citizenship.
The members of the House are likely to unveil their bill in June and the House bill is tougher than the bill of the “Gang of Eight”. Lawmakers who back the Senate immigration reform bill believe that the bill would win at least 70 votes. This bill that would create a 13-year path to US citizenship would create new visa programs and the Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to finish marking up the Senate immigration reform bill by the end of this month. The aim of President Obama is to legalize the nation’s undocumented immigrants and secure America’s borders and President Obama is enthusiastic about the Senate immigration reform bill.