The Senators may not unveil the immigration bill until next week though the negotiators have already reached a deal. The bill is likely to go before the floor in May and the Senate bill includes a pathway to US citizenship and border security. One of the provisions of the Senate bill states that the undocumented immigrants would be able to apply for US citizenship in ten years. This bill would provide more than $3.5 billion for the US Department of Homeland Security and the DHS would use that to improve the security at the border. Many have been anticipating the announcement of the bill and many believe that the senators will soon unveil the bill as the US Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO have reached a deal on the guest worker program. Likewise, many believe that the immigration bill will be signed into law by the end of 2013.
However, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that the Senate bill would make it harder and more expensive for the undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status in the country. He stated that the bill would make the process more difficult and instead of staying in America and going through the new process, the undocumented immigrants can return to their home countries and follow the legal process and that would be easier and cheaper. Rubio also said that the undocumented immigrants would be granted access to the legal immigration system but achieving legal status may not be that easy.
The bill of the senators would require the undocumented immigrants to pass background checks and pay their back taxes. But they may not become eligible for federal benefits immediately and only after a ten year period, the undocumented immigrants would get a chance to apply for permanent resident status. Apart from that, the senators would also implement some tough enforcement measures and he said that the country’s borders will be secured and people who enter into the country illegally may not be able to find jobs in America as the bill would require all the US employers to use E-verify and check the immigration status of employees prior to hiring them. However, the Senate bill may not permit undocumented immigrants who crossed the borders illegally after January 2011 to apply for lawful status.