IMMIGRATION REFORM DEBATE SET TO BEGIN
WASHINGTON --
Senators negotiating a bipartisan immigration reform bill have settled on the details of a plan that would immediately grant legal status to all illegal immigrants in the United States.
The deal on "Z visas" for illegal immigrants is one of several issues where Democrats and Republicans have reached broad agreement.
But as senators emerged yesterday from what they had hoped would be a final round of negotiations, they indicated that the slow progress would keep them from meeting the deadline set by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to begin debate on a bill today.
Late yesterday, Reid agreed to push that deadline back to Monday.
"They tell me they're 80 percent of the way," Reid, D-Nev., said in announcing the delay. "That's fine; the other 20 percent is hard."
The plan to award legal status to all illegal immigrants who meet certain qualifications would occur only after other so-called "triggers" are met. These triggers would require that certain border security and work-site enforcement measures be in place before other aspects of the overhaul go forward.
The Z visa plan would start with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States going on a probationary legal status. If the triggers are met -- a process that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., estimated would take 18 months -- then illegal immigrants who qualified could get Z visas. Those who have committed felony crimes would not be eligible, Graham said. And all participants would have to pass security checks, pay a fine and a processing fee, and pass an English-proficiency test.
Z visa holders would be able to apply for legal permanent resident status, a step toward citizenship. But at some point, the heads of households with Z visas would have to return to their home country and then re-enter the United States. They would have to take their Z visa to the U.S. Embassy or consulate and would be guaranteed re-entry, Graham said.
Source : www.kentucky.com
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