ImmigrationObama says same-sex amendment to immigration bill not likely to pass
President Barack Obama announced at a news conference in Costa Rica on Friday that he backs a proposal which would allow Americans to seek legal immigration for their same-sex partners. Obama said that it was “the right thing to do,” but he acknowledged that the provision has little chance of making it into the final immigration package.
Obama puts a damper on immigration bill passing with same-sex amendment // Source: sdpnoticias.com
President Barack Obama announced at a news conference in Costa Rica on Friday that he backs a proposal which would allow Americans to seek legal immigration for their same-sex partners.
Obama said that it was “the right thing to do,” but he acknowledged that the provision has little chance of making it into the final immigration package. “I’m not going to get everything I want in this bill,” Obama stated in his response to a question about his support for gay rights and its relation to immigration reform.
CNN reports that the bipartisan group of senators will formally introduce its immigration legislation proposal this week to the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to the proposal, it will take ten years for undocumented immigrants to receive green cards, then three more years to gain citizenship. During that time immigrants would have to pay a fine, back taxes, and pass a background check.
Currently these rights only apply for immigrant partners in heterosexual marriages with U.S. citizens.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who is a member of the group that drafted the bill, said the provision would not be politically feasible in today’s Congress and Obama agreed.
“If there are things that end up being left out in this bill, or things that I want to take out of a bill, but if it’s meeting those core criteria around a comprehensive immigration bill that I’m looking for, then we go back at it and we fix what’s not there and we continually improve what’s been presented,” Obama told reporters.
Obama said that the important things for him are a comprehensive immigration reform which includes a more effective border security plan, making sure there is a true pathway to citizenship for immigrants already in the country, and “holding employers accountable if they knowingly hire undocumented workers.”
“I think that this comprehensive immigration bill has the opportunity to do something historic that we have not done in decades,” Obama told reporters. “But I don’t expect that, after we’re finished with it, that people are going to say, there’s not a single problem that we have with our immigration system, any more than is true after any piece of legislation that we pass.
“I’m optimistic that — after years of trying — we are finally going to get it done this year,” Obama added.
