Immigration Reform 2014: Rep. Kevin McCarthy, GOP Majority Whip, Backs Legal Status For Undocumented

California representative Kevin McCarthy, the House majority whip and third-ranking Republican in that chamber, said in an interview on local TV in Bakersfield that he was in favor of crafting immigration reform legislation which would grant legal status to the estimated 11.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. “The principles aren’t combined, written out yet,” said McCarthy in reference to a list House Republican leaders say they will soon release and which will lay out basic tenets they believe immigration reform should include, “but in my personal belief, I think it'll go with legal status that will allow you to work and pay your taxes.”

McCarthy also appeared to echo earlier calls by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, for a version of immigration reform which would not provide a “special pathway” to citizenship for those currently in the US without papers – such as the 13-year path prescribed by an earlier Senate bill rejected by House Republicans. Goodlatte has said he believes those who gain legal status should have to pursue citizenship through the four existing channels. “If you want to become a citizen, you'll have to go through the path,” said McCarthy on Tuesday. “There won't be amnesty inside it."

The Hill notes that this isn’t the first time McCarthy has said he may support giving legal status – and thus work authorization and protection from deportation – for those in the country illegally, but his statement comes not long before the House GOP principles are expected to be released. McCarthy was a key target this summer for immigrant advocates who sought to pressure “vulnerable” House GOP members into supporting the Senate bill, as his southern California district is about 35 percent Latino.