Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — House Republican leaders will propose changes to U.S. immigration policy that include providing legal status to undocumented workers as the party attempts to gain support among Latino voters, a party aide said.
The principles, which would be used to guide legislation, also would support a path to citizenship for immigrants illegally brought to the country as children, said a House Republican aide who reviewed the document and requested anonymity to speak before it's released.
Republican leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner, will call for border security measures to be tied to other immigration changes, and say that current laws should be enforced before granting legal status to undocumented workers, according to the aide.
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House Republicans will discuss the proposals at a policy retreat later this week in Maryland, where they plan to work out their legislative agenda for the year.
A number of Republicans in the House and Senate have resisted providing what they call amnesty to people who entered the U.S. illegally.
"There's a lot of folks that are not interested in a comprehensive immigration bill," Representative Marlin Stutzman, an Indiana Republican, said in an interview today.
He said some Republicans oppose a piecemeal legislative approach to immigration out of concern it could be "logrolled" with items Republicans can't support in a conference committee with the Senate.
'Enormous Mistake'
Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said today it would "be an enormous mistake" for Congress "to pass a bill that fails to secure the borders and grants amnesty to those who are here illegally." Cruz said he was holding talks with Tea Party- backed Republicans in the House on the immigration issue.
"I very much hope the House of Representatives does not go down that road, and I don't believe they will," Cruz said in an interview. "It's certainly something the American people don't want to see Congress do."
The Senate in June passed the most significant revision of U.S. immigration law in a generation. The bill's backers wanted the bipartisan 68-32 vote to pressure the Republican-controlled House to act.
The Senate measure would create a path to citizenship for about 11 million undocumented immigrants now in the U.S., while directing $46.3 billion toward securing the border with Mexico. The border provisions — the costliest plan ever — were added on the Senate floor to gain Republican support.
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