White House draft immigration law irks Republican senators

Washington, DC, United States (4E) – Republican senators criticized the White House Sunday for circulating a draft of its own immigration reform proposals despite a bipartisan effort to come up with similar bill.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called the White House proposal half-baked and seriously flawed for lacking inputs from Republicans. Rubio, who is among the bipartisan senators that earlier proposed an immigration reform bill, said the White House draft does not address guest workers or future flow that prevents future influxes of illegal immigrants.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) described the White House proposal a counterproductive because it conflicts with the bipartisan efforts.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kent.) said President Barack Obama does not really want to solve the country’s immigration problem and just wants to have something to blame against the Republicans.

The White House draft leaked Saturday to government agencies and media outlets provides illegal immigrants eight years from the current five years to seek a green card.

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Sunday the Obama version is a fallback in case Congress fails to pass their own version of immigration reforms.

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