New Immigration Reform Proposal Could Offer Path To Legalized Status For Millions Of Undocumented Aliens

A bipartisan group of senators are introducing an immigration reform package that the American Immigration Lawyers Association is heralding as "an incredible step forward." The legislation will provide a path to citizenship to millions of undocumented aliens, conditioned upon changes being made to secure the nation's borders and stricter enforcement of visa overstays according to the proponents. The proposal would require apprehension of "every unauthorized entrant." I'm still awaiting further information on the proposal's specifics, but the sponsors of it provide four pillars upon which it is based:

• Create a tough but fair path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States that is contingent upon securing our borders and tracking whether legal immigrants have left the country when required;
• Reform our legal immigration system to better recognize the importance of characteristics that will help build the American economy and strengthen American families;
• Create an effective employment verification system that will prevent identity theft and end the hiring of future unauthorized workers; and,
• Establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers.