Idaho Republican's exit worries immigration advocates

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY 12:03 p.m. EDT June 9, 2013

Supporters say legalizing immigrants will be a net economic gain for nation.


Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, right, and Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev. talk on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 22 during the committee's hearing on immigration reform.(Photo: Susan Walsh, AP)
Story Highlights

  • Republicans want to limit the costs associated with legalizing immigrants on U.S. taxpayers
  • Sen. Hatch says he will only vote for package if 4 financial amendments are addressed on floor
  • Access to government-sponsored health care is a big concern for many Republicans


The decision of a key Republican to abandon the bipartisan House effort to propose a bill on immigration because of worries about health care costs is raising concerns among advocates that the economics of the measure may become critical to passage.
Much of the debate over the proposed overhaul, which goes to the Senate floor Monday, has focused on the fairness of granting U.S. citizenship to the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the USA and the practical questions of how best to secure the 2,000-mile border with Mexico to halt further illegal entry.
But the withdrawal by Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, from the House group that has been working for four years to write an immigration bill could be followed by others if no compromise is reached on the health care costs associated with granting citizenship to 11 million people, bill supporters say.
"I really hoped that Labrador would stay in the room and keep pushing for a reasonable compromise," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, which has been rallying support for the immigration bill for years.
"We knew this was only going to get harder," Noorani said. "And it's clear that the debate is going to come down to border and benefits."
Supporters of the bill say legalizing the nation's unauthorized immigrants, and bringing more foreigners into the country on work visas, will be a net economic gain for the nation. But Republicans skeptical about the bill question those assertions, and want to limit the costs on U.S. taxpayers in a variety of ways.
Some of the ways they have suggested is to further limit unauthorized immigrants' access to welfare programs. Other ideas are to require those who get temporary legal status to pay more in back taxes and bar them from benefiting from Obamacare or ensure that immigrants who could become "public charges" don't have the right to apply for U.S. citizenship.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has made clear he is willing to vote for the immigration package as a whole but only if four financial amendments he is proposing to correct "fundamental flaws" in the bill are addressed on the Senate floor.
"Let me make this point as clearly as I can — if these four issues are not addressed in a reasonable manner on the floor, I will vote against the bill," Hatch said last month as the Senate Judiciary Committee was debating the bill.
Members of the bipartisan group of senators that drafted the immigration law, known as the Gang of Eight, said they are considering Hatch's amendments and others like them. But they insist that they have found a delicate balance on all aspects of the bill and don't want to deviate too far.
"You're going to have all kinds of amendments, and hopefully the eight of us will stick together," Sen. John McCain said.
Here's a look at some of the changes Republicans will be seeking in an immigration bill:
GOVERNMENT BENEFITS
After the bill becomes law, unauthorized immigrants will be able to apply for a temporary legal status. Most will have to stay in that position for 10 years before they can apply for a green card, and three more years to apply to become U.S. citizens.
While they are in that temporary status, the bill prohibits them from most government "means-tested" benefits, including Medicaid, Social Security Income and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as food stamps.
But they will be eligible for some benefits. Their children are allowed to attend public school, hospitals are required by law to accept emergency cases and some forms of state and local benefits are open to them. Legislators want to limit that as much as they can.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., plans to file amendments to ban unauthorized immigrants from receiving earned income tax credits and the Child Tax Credit.
"This would grant such benefits to millions and be a substantial burden on our country's finances at a time we're desperately trying to reduce our deficit," Sessions said during debate on the bill last month.
HEALTH CARE
Access to government-sponsored health care has been a big concern for many Republicans.
Under the bill filed by the Senate, immigrants in the temporary legal status will be barred from receiving Medicaid benefits or subsidies under Obamacare. But some Republicans want to lock down those restrictions even further, and in some cases, bar them from receiving those benefits even after they get their green cards or become U.S. citizens.
The office of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the authors of the Gang of Eight immigration bill, circulated a memo to other offices that suggested the "Obamacare loophole" in the bill be closed. The memo said unauthorized immigrants could get federal benefits once they become legal permanent residents, and suggested an amendment to eliminate that possibility.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, filed an amendment in the Senate Judiciary Committee that would bar all people who had entered or been in the country illegally at any time from ever receiving Medicaid, Obamacare or other means-tested benefits.
And Labrador abandoned the House immigration group over the ability of unauthorized immigrants to access some government-sponsored healthcare benefits. He said that the group had reached an agreement that unauthorized immigrants would be responsible for paying all their own health care, but that they could not reach an agreement on how to write that into the bill.
"Like most Americans, I believe that health care is first and foremost a personal responsibility," Labrador said after leaving the group.
BACK TAXES
When the Senate Gang of Eight introduced its bill, members said that unauthorized immigrants applying to get their temporary status would have to pay back taxes they accrued in the years they've worked in the USA.
But the bill only requires they pay "assessed" taxes, meaning the IRS will only collect taxes on work it knows about. Unauthorized immigrants who work "off the books," meaning they mostly get paid in cash, won't be in that pool. And with an estimated half of the nation's 11 million unauthorized immigrants working off the books, that could be a big pool.
One of the amendments Hatch plans to introduce requires the IRS to go back and calculate the taxes owed on all income. He has said it's a matter of fairness to require them to settle up with the government before they reach the ultimate prize of U.S. citizenship.
And while Rubio has expressed support for Hatch's amendment, others on the Gang of Eight question whether its a good idea, or even possible. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he doesn't know how an IRS auditor would determine exactly how much an unauthorized immigrant owes in taxes if they've been paid in cash with no pay stubs for years and years.
"Conceptually, I'm there. Everybody should pay back taxes, illegal immigrants included," Graham said. "But how do you implement it? Is it workable? It may not be."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/09/senate-house-immigration-benefits/2385449/