House immigration bill offers citizenship (if they leave first)

[babylonsister]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immig21mar21,1,4631473.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true

House immigration bill offers citizenship

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As part of the pitch for conservative support, Gutierrez pointed to the provision requiring illegal immigrants to leave the country.

"This will say, 'Listen, you left and you … actually went through the legal process of entering the United States,' " he said in a conference call with members of the nation's ethnic media. "Is it going to sound somewhat absurd to some people? Certainly it will. But it's a requirement that many wish in the bill."

Illegal immigrants would be eligible for legalization if they arrived in the U.S. before June 1, 2006. They would have to pay a $2,000 fine and back taxes, and pass background and security checks. If after six years they have learned English and civics, kept a clean record, and the head of household has left and reentered the U.S. legally, they could become legal permanent residents, a step toward citizenship.

Unlike a Senate bill passed last year, those leaving the U.S. would not have to go to their home countries, but could travel to Canada or Mexico. Exceptions to the requirement would be made for children, the elderly, single heads of households, business owners and those in military service.

Much of the bill is based on work Flake and Gutierrez did with McCain and Kennedy last year.

More than half of it deals with border security and enforcement.

Gutierrez said the bill's border security provisions focused more on "smart technology, not fences." They call for more border patrol agents and better coordination with Latin American countries.

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