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Immigration plan on waiting periods adds up for both sides

Date: March 19 2013

Michael Shear, Ashley Parker

The US's 11 million illegal immigrants would have to wait a decade for a green card but could earn citizenship three years after that, under a measure being finalised by a bipartisan group of eight senators working to overhaul immigration law, people familiar with the negotiations have said.

The proposal would match the draft of a plan by President Barack Obama to offer participation in US democracy to millions who are living in fear of deportation.

The arrangement would reduce the time it takes to become a naturalised citizen from five years to three years. But in an appeal to Republicans, it would also extend to 10 years, from eight, the amount of time that illegal immigrants must wait before receiving permission to work in the US permanently.

Such a compromise might give both sides something to crow about: Republicans could argue that they pushed for a longer waiting period before an immigrant could get a green card. Democrats could say that undocumented workers would become citizens faster.

''It is an unusual construction, but it gets them to citizenship in the same time as the administration plan,'' said Kevin Appleby, the director of migration policy at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The New York Times


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