WASHINGTON — Three Republican senators have introduced legislation to allow young people brought illegally to the United States by their parents to receive legal residency if they seek higher education or enlist in the military.
The measure, sponsored by retiring Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona, as well as Sen. John McCain of Arizona, would offer a Republican alternative to the so-called DREAM Act, providing a pathway to permanent residency — but not citizenship — to young adults who have completed military service or higher education and have worked at least four years.
The proposal comes as an increasing number of Republican voices have called for the party to soften its hard-line opposition to illegal immigration in the wake of November electoral losses driven, in part, by poor performance with Hispanic voters.
Hutchison and Kyl insisted that their bill is not a response to the election results. Instead, they said, it represents a year of behind-the-scenes work to produce an alternative to the DREAM Act that would allow such young people to remain in the United States without allowing them, as Kyl said, “to jump ahead of anybody in the citizenship path.”
They are moving ahead with the legislation now so that it will get a public airing before they leave the Senate when its term concludes this year, they said, although they are not optimistic about its chances during Congress’ lame-duck session.
The measure, dubbed the Achieve Act, would extend a new visa to people younger than 28 who were brought to the United States before age 14. It would be available to those without serious criminal records and who agree not to access government benefits, including federal student loans.
The visa would allow young people to complete schooling or military service. It could then be transferred, first to a work visa and then, after four years, to a visa allowing permanent legal residency.
Though members of the group said they have held productive conversations with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has been working on his own alternative to the DREAM Act and has become a leading voice within the GOP on immigration policy, they indicated that he is not prepared to sign on as a co-sponsor.
The measure was also introduced without Democratic sponsors, despite repeated calls from Democrats for Republicans to work on bipartisan immigration legislation.
Kyl — who held a joint news conference with Hutchison on Tuesday to unveil the proposal — offered harsh words for President Barack Obama for his June decision to declare that his administration would stop seeking to deport those who would have qualified under the DREAM Act.
“The administration has unfortunately chosen ... to take the law into its own hands, choosing to ignore current law because it didn’t think it was good policy,” Kyl said. “Those of us who strongly believe in the rule of law believe that in our country, if you don’t like the law, change it, or seek to change it. Don’t violate it.”
Though the proposal will most likely be dismissed by some in the Republican camp for offering amnesty to illegal aliens, a senior Democratic aide suggested that the retiring Republicans should be given little credit for advancing the idea on the eve of their departure from the Senate.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 11/28/2012