Gang of Eight's Immigration Reform Bill Comes Out Tuesday! Rubio says "It will be More Expensive & More Difficult." Tea Party calls it "Amnesty."

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, speaking for the bi-partisan "Gang of 8" said their Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill will come out on Tuesday. He also praised the bill and their team's efforts. He said, "This is a very balanced bill. The American people have told us to do two things. One, prevent future flows of illegal immigration and then, come up with a common sense solution for legal immigration. And that’s just what our bill does. Our group is “very, very close” to a final proposal, which is scheduled to be presented on Tuesday. I think you’ll see a major agreement that’s balanced but fair, that will have the widespread support of the American people on Tuesday. The eight of us have met in the middle. And I think that’s where the American people are.”

While Schumer spoke positively about the bill, Marco Rubio sounded made the bill sound much more restrictive and untenable. Rubio said, "All we’ve done here is create an alternative that they can access, and the alternative we’ve created is going to be longer, more expensive and more difficult to navigate. It will actually be cheaper if they went back home, waited 10 years, and applied for a green card.  And so, secondly, we’re not awarding anything.  All we’re giving people the opportunity to eventually do is gain access to the same legal immigration system, the same legal immigration process that will be available to everybody else.”
Rubio also said that some of the undocumented workers currently in the country would not be eligible to seek legal status under the bill. “I think it’s important to understand it does not give anything.  It allows people access to the legal immigration system,” Rubio said. “Number two, some people won’t qualify.  They haven’t been here long enough; they’ve committed very serious crimes.  They won’t be able to stay.  Number three is all people will get is an opportunity to apply for things, to apply for a legal status, which isn’t awarded on day one. The only thing you are earning here is an opportunity to apply for temporary status, and ultimately, potentially to apply for a green card, the way everybody else does.  And that’s the process that we are outlining.” 
Even Rubio's dire picture does not satisfy the Tea Party Republican Right. Elf Eared Sen. Jeff Sessions said he thinks their proposal is "Amnesty."

President Obama Meeting with Key Senators to strategize Immigration Reform

President Obama to meet with key senators on immigration next week!
AP Reports:
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to focus attention on immigration next week by meeting at the White House with two senators crafting a bill on the issue. White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro said Obama will meet with Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Monday. The president is "looking forward to hearing more about their efforts toward producing a bipartisan bill," Shapiro said Friday. The meeting will be the first Obama has had with Schumer and Graham on the proposal they are developing since they began focusing on it last year.

Immigration has taken a back seat to the economy and health care on Obama's agenda since he took office just over a year ago. Immigrants and their advocates — promised by then-candidate Obama that he would tackle the issue in his first year as president — have been growing frustrated by the inaction. Several community groups planned to vent some of that frustration in a news conference Monday in Washington. The groups also are trying to organize tens of thousands of people from around the country for a March 21 demonstration in Washington.

"The president's commitment to fixing our broken immigration system remains unwavering," Shapiro said.