WASHINGTON: President Barack 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 they have long criticized.
Those are some of the concessions that Speaker John A. Boehner signaled he would demand in exchange for a willingness to overhaul the immigration system. Boehner outlined those standards in a one-page document released Thursday, and if they lead to legislation, Democrats and immigration advocates will be pressured to compromise.
Obama hinted in an interview broadcast 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," Obama said in an interview on CNN.
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 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 Friday, 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 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. 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, campaign manager for the Campaign for Citizenship, another advocacy group, said Boehner's blueprint was "outrageous." Richard L. Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, called it "a flimsy document" and "half-measures that would create a permanent class of noncitizens without access to green cards."
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Ill., said in a conference call with reporters that members of the coalition that is pushing for an immigration overhaul should be willing to consider 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," 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.
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