Immigration Reform Bill 2013: Senate Delays Bill Announcement; Will Immigrants Be Granted Amnesty?

The bipartisan group of eight senators -- the "Gang of Eight" -- tasked with writing an immigration reform bill will formally introduce its plan today to the Senate Judiciary Committee, reported Reuters. Senators Chuck Schumer, D- N.Y., and John McCain, R-Ariz., will also brief President Obama on the bill this afternoon, though the Gang's unveiling of their work to the public will be delayed due to the Boston Marathon tragedy. The reform is expected to face opposition in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Reuters reported that the plan would allow undocumented immigrants who arrived to the US before Dec. 31, 2011 and stayed continuously in the country since then to apply for provisional legal status as early as six months after the bill is signed by the president. The measure has been denounced by opponents of the bill as "amnesty" for the undocumented.

In order to be allowed to work legally in the United States, individuals would have to pay an initial $500 penalty and back taxes as well as prove that they have not been convicted of a serious crime in the United States. After receiving this provisional legal status, the path to a "green card" giving them permanent resident status would be much longer -- a decade or more -- and during it, immigrants would not be eligible for federal benefits. It could also take another three years for green card holders to become full-time citizens.

The Huffington Post reports that young people who came to the US as children and since deported would be eligible to apply for reentry under the plan.

Border security, which has been a sticking point for opponents of the bill, is also at stake in the plan. "High-risk" zones -- where the number of crossers apprehended in the act tops 30,000 per year -- would now be under "constant surveillance." "If an Effectiveness Rate of 90 percent or higher for all High Risk border sectors is reached during the first 5 years after the bill is enacted -- the 'Border Security Goal' has been achieved," a summary of the plan released by the Gang of Eight reads.

$3 billion will be committed to boosting security along the entire border. Measures will include fortification of fences, increasing staff on patrols and acquiring surveillance technology from the Department of Defense, including drones and drone pilots.

Under the proposed legislation, undocumented immigrants who apply for a green card may also not see it granted until the Department of Homeland Security has implemented measures to prevent "unauthorized workers from obtaining employment in the United States."