The Republican Party's Principles List

 

Announcement of January 30, 2014   (NY Times)

 

Standards for Immigration Reform 

 (step by step fix of broken system)

Border Security and Interior Enforcement Must Come First

Implement Entry-Exit Visa Tracking System

Employment Verification and Workplace Enforcement

Reforms to the Legal Immigration System  

 (more high-skilled and temporary)

Youth  (path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants)

Individuals Living Outside the Rule of Law  

 (qualified path to legal status)

 

 

Drafting the principles

 

Los Angeles Times, Jan. 9, 2014)   link to full article

Synopsis:  Seeking to make an overhaul of immigration laws a priority, House Speaker John A. Boehner vowed Wednesday [Jan. 8, 2014], that he would soon release a document of conservative "principles" on the issue intended to prod Republicans to pass a series of bills this year.

   The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a traditional ally of House Republicans, is planning to "pull out all the stops" to press Congress to pass immigration reform this year. Thomas J. Donohue, the group's president, said in a speech Wednesday that the business lobby would team with unions, faith leaders, law enforcement groups and others to "make 2014 the year that immigration reform is finally enacted."   

   House Republicans have struggled to respond to the Senate's immigration bill, which passed in June and would create a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants. Boehner refused to bring the bill up for a vote last year and said the House would write its own measures. These narrower bills would boost the number of visas for high-tech workers, fast-track legalization for farmworkers in the country illegally, and allow immigrants who came to the country illegally as children to apply for legal status, among other provisions.

   A small team of GOP representatives and staffers has been working for several weeks to draft a statement of basic principles on immigration policy. Last month, Boehner hired Rebecca Tallent, a former immigration advisor to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), to coordinate the effort. She is a veteran of McCain's attempt to pass immigration reform in President George W. Bush's second term. Boehner hopes to present the document to House Republicans at their retreat this month.