Some Republican senators are moving forward with their own effort to allow the children of undocumented immigrants to gain permanent residency in the U.S. While Florida Senator Marco Rubio is a key player in the talks, he's taking a back seat on this latest effort.
Republicans are looking to quite critics who say their party is out of touch with Hispanic voters. Unlike the Democrat’s DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship for the kids of undocumented immigrants, this new proposal only allows those children to gain permanent residency. President Obama signed an Executive Order ending the deportation of those so-called DREAM Act-kids. But Arizona Senator Jon Kyl – one of the bill’s sponsors – says the law needs to be changed."Those of us who strongly believe in the rule of law believe that in our country if you don’t like the law change it, or seek to change it. Don’t violate it", said Kyl. "For a civilian that’s called civil disobedience. For the president it’s called violating your oath of office."
The bill’s other lead sponsor is Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. While Florida Senator Marco Rubio hasn’t signed off on their proposal, she says his finger prints are all over their proposal.
“He is not ready to have a final product at this time, but he’s very supportive of what we’re doing", she said. "We’ve worked with him for the last six months and he’s had very constructive input into it. We have incorporated many of his ideas.”
Both Hutchison and Kyl are retiring in January, which opens the door for Rubio – a vocal proponent of immigration reform – to take the lead on the issue when the new Congress is seated in January.