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House Immigration Group Releases Deal On Principles For Reform

House Immigration Group Finally Reaches Reform Deal
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Copy Chief, HuffPost

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UNITED STATES - MAY 09: Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, speaks at a forum in Rayburn called a Conversations with Conservatives to discuss issues including appropriations and the upcoming reconciliation package. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan group in the House has come to an agreement on principles for a comprehensive immigration reform bill, members said on Thursday.

After a two-hour meeting with the group, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told reporters off the House floor that the eight members are now working on a final draft of the bill. He declined to say whether pieces of it would move on their own or all in one bill.

"I've always wanted to fix what's broken, and clearly what's broken is the entire immigration system," Diaz-Balart said. "And I think this bill would do that. ... I feel really, really, really, really comfortable with the fact that this is a very complete bill that fulfills what I've always wanted, which is to fix what's broken."

The members have been working for months -- some for years -- on a deal for immigration reform, a tough sell in the Republican-controlled House. They have kept their discussions quiet, and many did not openly acknowledge the group existed until they put out a joint statement in April praising the immigration reform work of the Senate "gang of eight."

The House group includes Democratic Reps. Xavier Becerra (Calif.), Luis Gutierrez (Ill.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.) and John Yarmuth (Ky.), along with Republican Reps. John Carter (Texas), Diaz-Balart (Fla.), Sam Johnson (Texas) and Raul Labrador (Idaho).

Although members have said in the past that they were close to a deal, there have been setbacks. On Wednesday, Politico reported that two GOP members -- Labrador and Carter -- threatened to leave if a deal was not reached at the Thursday meeting. Carter told reporters on Thursday he was "feeling better" about the group's progress.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said earlier Thursday he was concerned about the deadlock.

"I am concerned that the bipartisan group has been unable to wrap up their work," Boehner told reporters at a press conference. "And I know that there are some very difficult issues that have come up. But I continue to believe that the House needs to deal with this and the House needs to work its will. How we get there, we're still dealing with it."

Diaz-Balart was tight-lipped about details of the deal, and said it is yet to be determined when the group will finish the legislation. Many parts have already been drafted, he said, but the members still need to make some final agreements. He joked it would be "safe to say it's going to be a little over two or three" pages long.

"We have a lot of it drafted ... but these have been very intense negotiations, and so obviously it's got to be finalized drafting," Diaz-Balart told reporters. "And then we're going to have to sit down and, unlike other bills, we've got to read line-by-line and make sure that it's all there."

Diaz-Balart said he expects the group to stick together.

"It's been difficult, arduous process, and we haven't fallen apart yet," Diaz-Balart said. "And now we have an agreement of principle and I think that says it all."

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Before You Go

10 Major U.S. Federal Immigration Laws
The Naturalization Act of 1790(01 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1790 was our country's first set of laws dealing with citizenship. Applicants had to be "a free white person" of "good moral character." This excluded indentured servants and slaves. Good moral character was substantiated by establishing residence for at least one year in the state from where he was applying, and at least two years of residence in the country. The Naturalization Act of 1795 would extend that requirement to five years, and is still standard today. (credit:Flickr)
The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868(02 of10)
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A Reconstruction Amendment that was added to the U.S. Constitution following the Civil War, the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment establishes for the first time that children born on U.S. soil would be conferred U.S. citizenship regardless of their parent's citizenship status, race, or place of birth. Last year, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 to Congress, and challenged this. The bill would require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident for a child to be granted citizenship. According to the bill's text, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, and "clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth."Prior to this, Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) introduced a similar bill in 2009. (credit:Getty)
The Naturalization Act of 1870(03 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1870 explicitly extended naturalization laws to "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." This meant that for the first time, African-American children would be conferred citizenship upon birth. Asian immigrants and other people of color are excluded per the Naturalization Acts of 1790 and 1795. (credit:Getty)
The Page Act of 1875(04 of10)
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Named after Republican Representative Horace F. Page, this is the first U.S. federal immigration law to explicitly prohibit the immigration of a particular group: persons of Asian descent. Primarily meant to limit Chinese immigrant labor and prostitution, the Page Act prohibited the immigration of: (1) contracted labor from "China, Japan, or any Oriental country" that was not "free and voluntary," (2) Chinese prostitution and (3) criminals and women who would engage in prostitution. Ultimately, the Page Act severely restricted the immigration of Asian women. Only 136 of the the nearly 40,000 Chinese immigrants who arrived in the months before the bill's enforcement were women. And, it would pave the way for the Chinese Exclusion Act.In this picture, Michael Lin, chair of the 1882 Project, a coalition of rights groups seeking a statement of regret over that year's Chinese Exclusion Act, speaks on May 26, 2011 in Washington, DC, at the US House of Representatives in front of a reproduction of a 19th-century sign that aimed at rousing up sentiment against Chinese Americans. Lawmakers introduced a bill that would offer an official statement of regret for the act, which banned further immigration of Chinese to the United States and ended citizenship rights for ethnic Chinese. (AFP PHOTO/SHAUN TANDON). (credit:Getty)
The Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882(05 of10)
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Signed by President Chester A. Arthur, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first federal immigration law to prohibit immigration on the basis of race. The bill barred all Chinese laborers, skilled and unskilled, from immigrating to the U.S. for ten years. It was made permanent by 1903, and was not lifted until the 1943 Magnuson Act. The 1898 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark finally extended naturalization laws to persons of Chinese descent by ruling that anyone born in the United States was indeed a U.S. citizen. This editorial cartoon from 1882 shows a Chinese man being excluded from entry to the "Golden Gate of Liberty." The sign next to the iron door reads, "Notice--Communist, Nihilist, Socialist, Fenian & Hoodlum welcome. But no admittance to Chinamen." At the bottom, the caption reads, "THE ONLY ONE BARRED OUT. Enlightened American Statesman--'We must draw the line somewhere, you know.'" (Image Source: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 54 (1882 April 1), p. 96. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons). (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
The Naturalization Act of 1906(06 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1906 further defined the naturalization process: the ability to speak English was made a requisite for immigrants to adjust their status. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration Act of 1924(07 of10)
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U.S. President Coolidge signed this U.S. federal bill into law. It capped the number of immigrants who could be admitted entry to the U.S. and barred immigration of persons who were not eligible for naturalization. And, as the Naturalization Act of 1790 required, an immigrant had to be white in order to naturalize. The quotas varied by country. Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons, NYCMarines. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarran-Walter Act)(08 of10)
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The McCarran-Walter Act kept up the controversial Immigration Act of 1924, but formally ended Asian exclusion. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965(09 of10)
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When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, it abolished the quota system that favored immigration from Europe and limited immigration from Asia and South America. (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996(10 of10)
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The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) is a piece of legislation that defined an array of issues to do with legal and illegal immigration -- from outlining how border patrol agents should administer visa processing, to the minutiae of how to handle deportation proceedings -- IIRIRA established enforcement and patrolling practices. (credit:AP)
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