Dream Act-Lite Plan Circulating Among Republicans: Report
Dream Act-Lite Plan Circulating Among Republicans: Report
The Huffington Post | By Elise Foley
Posted: 11/15/2012 4:39 pm EST Updated: 11/15/2012 5:45 pm EST
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Republican senators are working on a Dream Act-style bill called the ACHIEVE Act to give legal status to some undocumented young people, the Daily Caller's Matt K. Lewis reported Thursday.
The GOP plan would be a watered-down version of the decade-old Dream Act initially put forward by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The Dream Act was never able to get through both chambers of Congress, and most recently failed in the Senate in 2010. With renewed interest on immigration reform, there is an effort to come to some sort of bipartisan solution, and the ACHIEVE Act is reportedly a plan being floated to do so.
The ACHIEVE Act would allow some undocumented immigrants to attend college or serve in the military under a W-1 visa, Lewis reported. They could then apply for another four-year visa to work or do further studies, and then apply for permanent residence without welfare benefits. Citizenship "could follow," according to the details posted.
The bill being floated would apply to undocumented immigrants who came to the United States before the age of 14 as long as they are under the age of 28, if they have no college degree. If they are college-educated, the age limit is 32, according to the Daily Caller. The Dream Act, by contrast, would allow immigrants to apply so long as they came before the age of 16 and are currently under the age of 30.
Both plans require an immigrant to show good moral character, maintain a felony-free criminal record, and live in the U.S. for five consecutive years before the bill's enactment -- assuring foreign nationals will not enter the country now simply to apply.
The ACHIEVE Act would likely require undocumented immigrants hoping to take part in the law to go through a medical exam and background check as well, Lewis reported.
President Barack Obama announced a policy in June to grant deferred action to some of the same undocumented young people who would be impacted by the Dream Act. Republicans decried that decision as an overstep of his federal authority and said Congress should deal with the issue, but Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) dropped his plan to introduce a bill immediately after.
There is now increased appetite for reform, and a bill for undocumented youth may be an easier haul than broader legalization efforts. Members of Congress and the president have said they are working now on an immigration plan that would be comprehensive, but some Republicans seem more likely to chip off the issue of young unauthorized immigrants into its own legislation.
Rubio spokesman Alex Conant told HuffPost the text is "a working draft of what Sen. Rubio began working on over the summer."
"Senator Rubio has said that his proposal would be permanent and legalize the status of undocumented young people in America without creating a special pathway to citizenship," he said in an email. "We are still working on the timing and specifics of our legislation, with the goal of permanently solving the problem with broad, bipartisan support."
The senator said earlier on Thursday that be believes a Dream Act-style bill should be the first priority, followed by broader reform.
"The issue of these kids that are in this country undocumented is not an immigration issue, it's a humanitarian one," he said at The Atlantic's Washington Ideas Forum. "They are more like refugees in that sense than they are like illegal immigration folks, because they're here through no fault of their own, they've been raised their entire life here and they want to go on with their future."
Read the full Daily Caller story here.
This story has been updated to include a comment from Rubio's office.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/dream-act-lite-republicans_n_2139750.html
Republicans announce immigration reform initiatives ahead of fiscal cliff talks
November 19, 2012
By: Kimberly Dvorak
examiner.com
In an effort to improve their tattered, non-inclusive image and garner more power at the upcoming fiscal cliff negotiations, Republican lawmakers look to introduce their version of the DREAM Act.
The Republican’s ACHIEVE Act, would allow illegal aliens a pathway to citizenship by creating a new “W-visa.” It allows those already residing in America illegally a pathway to citizenship. However, potential applicants must meet several conditions in order to qualify for the non-immigrant visa. Some of those requirements include:
* completed high-school and are admitted to college or earned a college degree, or
*completed high school and are enlisted in or have completed four years of military service
*have entered the country before the age of 14
*have lived in the U.S. continuously for five years
*have not committed a felony, two misdemeanors with a jail term of over 30 days, or a crime of moral turpitude
*have not been subject to a final order of removal
*pay a $525 fee, and are under the age of 28 (or 32 if they have a bachelor's degree from a U.S. university)
The Republican version ties citizenship to educational or vocational institutions and allows illegal aliens six years to complete a bachelor, associate, technical or graduate degree in order to garner their spot in line for citizenship. Applicants may also join the armed forces and serve four years as another conduit to citizenship.
The GOP plan, co-written by Tea Party favorite Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), also said illegals must maintain employment for 36 consecutive months if they are not enrolled in school if they wish to stay in the country.
The new W-visa holders must remain in good standing throughout a four-year period to be eligible for a W-3 permanent non-immigrant visa. The W-3 visa is a renewable document that can lead to citizenship by obtaining a “green card.”
After Latinos overwhelmingly voted for Democrats and President Obama, the Republican Party is now trying to restore its image of diversity within minority communities.
Last summer President Obama signed an Executive Order that essentially granted amnesty to a few million younger illegal aliens. Since that time Senator Rubio has been asking for a "permanent solution" for the millions of minors brought to the country by their illegal alien parents through no fault of their own. At the annual Washington Ideas Forum, held in November 2012 Rubio stated; "[T]he issue of kids that are in this country undocumented is not an immigration issue, it's a humanitarian one." His spokesperson also indicated that Senator Rubio has continued promoting work on drafting DREAM Act-like legislation for the upcoming year.
Republicans announce immigration reform initiatives ahead of fiscal cliff talks - San Diego County Political Buzz | Examiner.com
