Senate's "Gang of Eight" reportedly reaches immigration deal

The bipartisan group of senators will announce the deal within a week

Published April 10, 2013 1:27PM (EDT)

The Senate's "Gang of Eight," which has been working toward a deal on immigration reform, has reportedly reached a deal and will announce it within a week.

Politico reports:

Aides said the legislative proposal could be released as soon as Thursday, but is more likely to be ready early next week. The schedule outlined by the aides is meant to satisfy Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has said repeatedly that he wants a full debate and amendment process, to maximize the chances that the final vote is an overwhelming majority.

The Wall Street Journal has some possible details on the framework, which, according to unnamed sources, would require strict border security measures to be enforced before undocumented immigrants can begin receiving green cards:

Immigrants in the U.S. illegally would not gain green cards under a bipartisan Senate bill until law-enforcement officials are monitoring the entire southern border and stopping 90% of people crossing illegally in certain areas, according to people familiar with the plan.

The border-security proposal, part of a broader immigration bill being written by eight senators, sets several goals that would have to be met before any of the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally could apply for permanent legal residency, also known as a green card, according to the people familiar with the Senate talks. Meeting all the goals is expected to take 10 years.


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Chuck Schumer Immigration John Mccain Marco Rubio Undocumented Immigrants