PenceBlog: <b>Hutchison-Pence Plan immigration announcement attracts national attention</b> - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence : 6th District Of Indiana

This morning Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rep. Mike Pence introduced unveiled a joint border security and immigration reform plan.

Dave Montgomery of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram authored this article which details earlier reaction to the Hutchison-Pence Plan.

Here is an excerpt:

"It’s a contribution to the process," said House Majority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. "More power to anybody who can come up with a new idea that can knock us off dead center," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., chairman of the Senate’s immigration subcommittee.

The plan would require the millions of illegal immigrants now in the United States to return to their home countries before being eligible to participate in the plan under renewable work visas. Those who remain in the program for 17 years could apply for permanent legal residency and citizenship.

The two Republican lawmakers described their proposal as a desperately needed impetus to jump-start negotiations between the House and Senate over sharply different immigration bills.

The House bill advocates an enforcement-only approach to halt the flow of illegal immigrants while the broader, bipartisan Senate bill proposes a guest-worker program and an automatic path to citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who have entered the United States over the past two decades.

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Donna Smith of Reuters also filed this article on the press conference.

Here is an excerpt:

Two Republican U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday offered a compromise immigration plan they said would ensure border security and allow some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States without granting amnesty.

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence said they hoped their plan would jump start stalled negotiations between the Senate and House of Representatives. The two chambers have passed vastly different immigration bills and it is increasingly unlikely the two sides will bridge differences ahead of the November congressional elections.

"We believe that this Congress must come together and find a way forward, and we hope this idea can be that way forward," Pence said at a news conference with Hutchison.

The plan calls for implementing border-security measures before a guest-worker program backed by President Bush is put into place. Once the borders are determined to be secure, a temporary-worker program and an employment-verification program would go into effect.
The U.S. government would license private employment services to match workers with employers. They would operate out of Canada, Mexico and Central American countries that are part of trade pacts with the United States.

Illegal immigrants from those countries seeking to legalize their status would have to travel home to get a two-year visa, which could be renewed for a total of 12 years. After that time, those seeking to continue in the United States could apply for a visa that would allow them to say for another five years before they could apply for permanent status.

Pence said it was a plan that conservatives could embrace because it gave no amnesty to illegal immigrants. Many House Republicans oppose the bipartisan Senate bill, calling it an amnesty, because it combines border security and workplace enforcement measures with a program giving millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn U.S. citizenship.

posted by Pence Press Office # 2:51 PM