White House pushes back on GOP criticism of draft immigration bill

WASHINGTON -- The White House pushed back Sunday against Republican criticisms that its draft immigration bill was flawed and counterproductive to congressional efforts aimed at overhauling the nation’s immigration system.

Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, said the Obama administration was “very aggressively supporting” bipartisan immigration talks on Capitol Hill. He said the White House had not proposed a bill to Congress but was merely readying one in case lawmakers fail to reach agreement.

“We’re just going to be ready,” McDonough said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We have developed each of these proposals so we have them in a position so that we can succeed.”

TIMELINE: U.S. immigration law

The draft administration bill, which USA Today disclosed Saturday, adds several new details to what President Obama previously had said in public.

It would create a “lawful prospective immigrant” visa, for example, for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and establish a process to allow qualified applicants to become permanent residents within eight years.

It would provide for an unspecified increase in funding for border security. It also would require employers to develop a system to check the immigration status of new hires within four years.

Sen. Marco Rubio, (R-Fla.) one of eight senators in a bipartisan group working on immigration overhaul, shot down the White House draft, calling it “half-baked and seriously flawed.”

Rubio said Obama’s bill doesn’t do enough to secure America’s borders and “creates a special pathway that puts those who broke our immigration laws at an advantage over those who chose to do things the right way and come here legally.”

“If actually proposed, the president’s bill would be dead on arrival in Congress,” Rubio said in a statement.

McDonough did not address specific aspects of the bill. But he said that Rubio “says it’s ‘dead on arrival’ if it’s proposed. Well, let’s make sure that it doesn’t have to be proposed.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), also a member of the so-called gang of eight working on immigration legislation, accused Obama of developing his proposal without GOP input.

“This raises the question: … Does the president really want a result, or does he want another cudgel to beat up Republicans so that he can get political advantage in the next election?” McCain said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

But Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), another member of the gang of eight, said he was not upset at the leaked draft legislation.

Obama “agreed to give us the space we need to come up with a bipartisan proposal,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I am very hopeful that in March we will have a bipartisan bill.”