Reports on breakthrough for USA immigration reform are premature

The two Gang of Eight leaders are today cooling down reports of a final deal over the weekend on the controversial US immigration reform bill.

Leaders of the bipartisan ‘Gang of Eight’ US senators who are struggling to reach agreement over immigration reform have scotched rumours that a groundbreaking deal has been reached. Lindsay Graham and prominent Republican senator Marco Rubio stated that reports of a historic weekend deal were premature.

The group have been working on the massive shake-up in immigration policy for months now, with a deal expected to be rolled out by early April. According to Rubio, substantial progress has been made on the modernisation of the system which will increase border security, allow illegals to work towards citizenship and tend to the labour needs of industry.

However, he noted, legislation will only be the first step in a long, hard process towards citizenship for the huge umber of illegal immigrants already in the USA. Undocumented and immigrant workers have rraditionally been the deal-breakers as regards immigration reform, with the last attempt in 1986 falling by the wayside on the issue.

This time around, it seems that visas for low-skilled workers would not exceed 20,000 per year, although the number could be adjusted upwards to suit industrial needs. A third of available visas would be reserved for the use of SMES, although businesses will need to prove no US national would take the jobs.

Rubio stated that a healthy pubic debate on the proposals is needed, along with committee hearing and the consideration of other senators’ views on improving the original proposals. The bill is expected to be voted on by Congress in the late autumn.