Reformers have spent months waiting for House Republicans to lay out a plan to rewrite U.S. immigration law. Now that the GOP has finally made its move, they can’t agree what to make of it.
 

The blueprint released Thursday is “a game changer,” according to Tamar Jacoby, president of the pro-reform business coalition Immigration Works USA. Or perhaps it’s “a joke,” as Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, told the Washington Post. “It’s a hoax is what it is. It’s like fool’s gold.”

Reform advocates, who pored over the GOP’s 800-word “standards for immigration reform” with the fervor of NSA code breakers, came away divided about whether it represents a genuine effort to untangle one of the knottiest policy problems facing Congress. The divergent reactions proved that the immigration movement is no more a monolith than the famously fractious House Republican conference.

“It’s like a piece of modern art,” says Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy at the liberal Center for American Progress, who called the blueprint an encouraging first step. “You see what you want to see.”

The truth is it may be impossible to know yet whether the skeletal outline unveiled by House Republican leaders is a significant milestone toward a badly needed overhaul of immigration policy or a political document meant to inoculate the party at the polls.

Start with the positives. In 2012, the Republican Party nominated a presidential candidate whose immigration platform included the phrase “self-deportation.” Mitt Romney‘s anemic performance with Latinos convinced party strategists the GOP needed to soften its stance to remain competitive as the demographics of the electorate shifted. But after the Democratic-controlled Senate passed a landmark immigration bill on a strong bipartisan vote, the House GOP refused to budge. Momentum evaporated.

But things have changed. Last fall, leadership stood feckless as a band of backbenchers shut down the government. Less than four months later, the top four House Republicans stand united behind a plan that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants a path to legal status, and give “children” brought to the U.S. illegally a chance to obtain citizenship. For House Speaker John Boehner, who has preferred to let his rank-and-file dictate the direction of the conference, marching his troops into a controversial debate with the midterm elections looming was a bold choice.

“It is a good beginning,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat who has spearheaded immigration negotiations in the House, told reporters on a Friday afternoon conference call. “I am so delighted.”

Formal legislative language is still a long way off. Votes are “probably months out,” Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, told reporters. As a matter of politics, the vagueness of the GOP blueprint makes sense: It is an opening volley that helps the party delay action until after congressional filing deadlines, which protects vulnerable members from primary challenges.

But after months of waiting, the lack of detail irked many reformers. There was little, if anything, in the one-page document that one Republican or another has not said before. The House GOP still refuses to produce a comprehensive bill or to enter into negotiations with the Senate. It appears to reject a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S., a long-held goal of activists and Democrats. When it comes to reworking the legal immigration system, it leaves critical figures blank, such as the number of low-skilled workers eligible for green cards and the number of high-tech workers who can receive special visas. And it declares that any concessions to Democrats will be contingent on meeting undefined border security and interior-enforcement metrics.

“Is it heartening? Yes, it is,” says Jose Antonio Vargas, a undocumented immigrant and former journalist who founded the advocacy group Define American. “But it also leaves a whole lot to be desired.”

Perhaps most vexing to reform advocates is the final sentence of the GOP’s blueprint, which states that no steps toward legalization can be taken “before specific enforcement triggers have been implemented to fulfill our promise to the American people” that immigration laws will be enforced. The document doesn’t say what those triggers should be. But the caveat is a nod to the atmosphere of distrust that pervades the process.

The “majority view” among House Republicans, says Florida GOP Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, is that Republicans should tackle the immigration issue, though he acknowledged the faction that opposes doing so and another that remains leery of the political risk involved.

“But there is a great distrust on behalf of the Republicans in the House toward this Administration,” says Diaz-Balart, who supports reform. The upshot is Republicans will insist on “airtight” language, Diaz-Balart said, to force President Barack Obama to enforce the law. The goal, immigration-reform advocates believe, is to block Obama from easing the flow of deportations—the single most pressing concern for immigration-reform advocates.

For Latinos, there is a bitter irony to the conservative mantra that Obama can’t be trusted to carry out immigration law. They argue Obama has been draconian, not lenient. The numbers bear this out: The Obama administration has deported nearly two million undocumented immigrants—the highest rate of any presidency, and more than George Washington through Bill Clinton combined. “The number one priority of Latinos is to stop the deportations,” says Roberto Lovato, co-founder of the Latino advocacy group Presente.org. “It’s a first and fundamental step. The immigration system is broken because it destroys immigrant families.”

Obama indicated Friday that he would be open to an immigration deal that does not include a pathway to citizenship, if other Democratic goals were met in the process. “If the speaker proposes something that says, right away, folks aren’t being deported, families aren’t being separated, we’re able to attract top young students to provide the skills or start businesses here and then there’s a regular process of citizenship, I’m not sure how wide the divide ends up being,” Obama told CNN. But the GOP’s security-first approach would seem to nix that possibility.

That’s why some immigration-reform advocates, like the AFL-CIO, are so frustrated by the document, which seems to reject both citizenship and the cessation of deportations. Others, like Kelley and Gutierrez, parsed the the wording differently; to them, rejecting a “special path” to citizenship doesn’t mean that current law can’t be adjusted to clear an existing path.

“We have a responsibility to see what the specifics are, to put some meat on those bones,” Gutierrez says. “There is going to be a lot of work that needs to get done, and a lot of negotiation that needs to get done. But you know something? We now have a platform to get to work.”

House G.O.P.’s Immigration Plan Presents Tough Choices for Obama

A pro-immigration rally on the National Mall in October. Some advocates voiced hope for a deal. 

President Obama and his allies may soon confront a difficult decision: whether to abandon the creation of a new path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants and accept tough border security and enforcement measures that they have long criticized.

Those are some of the concessions that Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio signaled he would demand in exchange for a willingness to overhaul the immigration system. Mr. Boehner outlined those standards in a one-page document released on Thursday, and if they lead to legislation, Democrats and immigration advocates will be pressured to compromise.

Mr. Obama hinted in an interview broadcast on Friday that he was open to a plan that would initially give many undocumented workers a legal status short of citizenship, as long as they were not permanently barred from becoming citizens.

 “If the speaker proposes something that says right away ‘folks aren’t being deported, families aren’t being separated, we’re able to attract top young students to provide the skills or start businesses here, and then there’s a regular process of citizenship’ — I’m not sure how wide the divide ends up being,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on CNN.

Speaker John A. Boehner’s blueprint may force President Obama to decide whether to abandon a new path to citizenship. 

But White House officials reiterated that the president remained committed to his own set of principles, including a demand that there be “no uncertainty” about the ability of illegal immigrants to become American citizens. Officials noted that Mr. Boehner’s standards did not specifically call for handing enforcement of immigration laws to state and local police forces, a move, pushed by some Republicans, that Democrats oppose.

In an online town-hall-style meeting on Friday, Mr. Obama described himself as “modestly optimistic” that an immigration deal could be reached this year, but he pledged to look at all the options and said he would use his executive power if negotiations with Republican lawmakers broke down over the next several months.

The quandary for Mr. Obama is clear: He has vowed to overhaul immigration in two presidential campaigns, but to make good on the promise, he may have to agree to conditions from House Republicans that will be hard for many Democrats to accept. Mr. Boehner is facing pressure of his own to come up with a plan that will appeal to Hispanic voters.

“Just about all of the immigration advocates have said if it’s legal status with a restriction or prohibition on citizenship, then that’s a nonstarter,” said Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-immigration group.

Eddie Carmona, the campaign manager for the Campaign for Citizenship, another advocacy group, said Mr. Boehner’s blueprint was “outrageous.” Richard L. Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., called it “a flimsy document” and “half-measures that would create a permanent class of noncitizens without access to green cards.”

Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, said in a conference call with reporters that members of the coalition that is pushing for an immigration overhaul should be willing to consider Mr. Boehner’s approach.

“If your standard is citizenship for everyone immediately or no immigration reform at all, you are going to get no immigration reform at all,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “People are going to have to stand in the middle and leave the comfort of their caucus.”

During the online meeting, the president said he wanted to engage the Republicans. “I don’t want to prejudge and presuppose,” he said.

The question of how much Democrats will need to compromise will depend in large measure on the details of what — if anything — House Republicans pass this year. The Senate passed legislation last year after Republicans and Democrats reached a compromise on a broad overhaul, but the House has not acted on it.

The House Judiciary Committee has embraced a bill called the SAFE Act, which would empower local governments to identify and arrest people who violate federal immigration laws. The bill was modeled after laws introduced in states like Alabama and Arizona that critics say discriminate against Hispanics and violate civil liberties.

Democrats and activists were cautiously optimistic that the Republican standards, at least in their broad rendering, did not mention the SAFE Act. Including such a measure in a final immigration package would infuriate Democrats and immigration advocates.

“The SAFE Act is a poison pill,” said Mr. Sharry, the America’s Voice leader. “The idea of sacrificing the civil rights of tens of millions of Americans — because that’s what happens when you allow cops to stop people and ask for papers — is a deal-breaker.”

Mr. Boehner’s blueprint also calls for a “zero tolerance” policy for those who have crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visas. Senate conservatives demanded billions of dollars for new border security measures, and House members are likely to ask for more.

The document says that Republicans should enact measures to ensure that a president cannot “unilaterally stop immigration enforcement.” Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies are likely to object to language that could limit the power of the presidency.

Mr. Boehner’s document also emphasizes the need for “triggers” that would delay legal status for undocumented workers until border security and enforcement actions have been taken and certified. Advocates for an overhaul say such triggers are usually devised to perpetually frustrate immigrants’ hope of becoming citizens.

Despite the differences, immigration advocates expressed some optimism that they could persuade House Republicans to soften or abandon some of their approaches. A senior White House official said Mr. Obama was eager to see what the Republicans would offer.

“There was never any doubt that the gap between the president’s principles and the speaker’s principles would be pretty large,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss legislative strategy. “Everybody understands they are not going to start from the same place.”

But the official said that nothing in Mr. Boehner’s document surprised anyone in the White House. “What’s important is this debate is starting,” the official said.

Angela Kelley, an expert on immigration at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research group, said recent compromises on farm legislation and the budget encouraged her that a deal could be reached on immigration without too many compromises from either side. She said Mr. Boehner’s blueprint was a good start.

“They’re not fighting words,” Ms. Kelley said. “It feels like they’re trying to have a conversation, not a confrontation, and that’s a breath of fresh air on any issue, but especially in this town.”

Text of Republicans’ Principles on Immigration
On Thursday, Congressional Republicans released a one-page document, obtained by The New York Times, outlining their blueprint for immigration overhaul.

Our nation’s immigration system is broken and our laws are not being enforced. Washington’s failure to fix them is hurting our economy and jeopardizing our national security. The overriding purpose of our immigration system is to promote and further America’s national interests and that is not the case today. The serious problems in our immigration system must be solved, and we are committed to working in a bipartisan manner to solve them. But they cannot be solved with a single, massive piece of legislation that few have read and even fewer understand, and therefore, we will not go to a conference with the Senate’s immigration bill. The problems in our immigration system must be solved through a step-by-step, common-sense approach that starts with securing our country’s borders, enforcing our laws, and implementing robust enforcement measures. These are the principals guiding us in that effort.

Border Security and Interior Enforcement Must Come First
It is the fundamental duty of any government to secure its borders, and the United States is failing in this mission. We must secure our borders now and verify that they are secure. In addition, we must ensure now that when immigration reform is enacted, there will be a zero tolerance policy for those who cross the border illegally or overstay their visas in the future. Faced with a consistent pattern of administrations of both parties only selectively enforcing our nation’s immigration laws, we must enact reform that ensures that a President cannot unilaterally stop immigration enforcement.

Implement Entry-Exit Visa Tracking System
A fully functioning Entry-Exit system has been mandated by eight separate statutes over the last 17 years. At least three of these laws call for this system to be biometric, using technology to verify identity and prevent fraud. We must implement this system so we can identify and track down visitors who abuse our laws.

Employment Verification and Workplace Enforcement
In the 21st century it is unacceptable that the majority of employees have their work eligibility verified through a paper based system wrought with fraud. It is past time for this country to fully implement a workable electronic employment verification system.

Reforms to the Legal Immigration System
For far too long, the United States has emphasized extended family members and pure luck over employment-based immigration. This is inconsistent with nearly every other developed country. Every year thousands of foreign nationals pursue degrees at America’s colleges and universities, particularly in high skilled fields. Many of them want to use their expertise in U.S. industries that will spur economic growth and create jobs for Americans. When visas aren’t available, we end up exporting this labor and ingenuity to other countries. Visa and green card allocations need to reflect the needs of employers and the desire for these exceptional individuals to help grow our economy.

The goal of any temporary worker program should be to address the economic needs of the country and to strengthen our national security by allowing for realistic, enforceable, usable, legal paths for entry into the United States. Of particular concern are the needs of the agricultural industry, among others. It is imperative that these temporary workers are able to meet the economic needs of the country and do not displace or disadvantage American workers.

Youth
One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents. It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children through no fault of their own, those who know no other place as home. For those who meet certain eligibility standards, and serve honorably in our military or attain a college degree, we will do just that.

Individuals Living Outside the Rule of Law
Our national and economic security depend on requiring people who are living and working here illegally to come forward and get right with the law. There will be no special path to citizenship for individuals who broke our nation’s immigration laws – that would be unfair to those immigrants who have played by the rules and harmful to promoting the rule of law. Rather, these persons could live legally and without fear in the U.S., but only if they were willing to admit their culpability, pass rigorous background checks, pay significant fines and back taxes, develop proficiency in English and American civics, and be able to support themselves and their families (without access to public benefits). Criminal aliens, gang members, and sex offenders and those who do not meet the above requirements will not be eligible for this program. Finally, none of this can happen before specific enforcement triggers have been implemented to fulfill our promise to the American people that from here on, our immigration laws will indeed be enforced.