Republicans have slammed an Obama administration plan, which would enable undocumented immigrants to become legal permanent residents of the United States within just eight years.
The White House has been defending its work behind the scenes on immigration reform, following the leaking of the plan to the media in the United States.
USA Today claims that the plan – which is being drafted by the administration and has already been in circulation among a number of different government agencies – would allow undocumented immigrants to be able to become legally resident in the United States over a period of eight years. The plan was immediately attacked by Republicans who offered sharp criticism of the White House for daring to develop it without asking for their consultation beforehand.
Senator Marco Rubio, the man who is leading the effort by the Republicans when it comes to immigration legislation following the party’s crushing defeat and overwhelming unpopularity with the Latino community at last year’s Presidential elections, says that any such a plan would be “dead on arrival” when it comes to Congress. “This legislation is half baked and seriously flawed,” he says. “It would actually make our immigration problems worse.”
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough says the administration is working very closely with the “gang of eight” senators, including Rubio, who are working on their own plan. “He says it’s (the new plan) dead on arrival if proposed,” McDonough notes. “Well, let’s make sure it doesn’t have to be proposed.”