Immigration Reform 2013 News: Obama Says Bill Could Pass in Six Months; Rubio Says Obamacare Will Get in the Way

After years of debate on immigration reform, President Obama says that a comprehensive bill on immigration could become law only six months from now.

In an interview with Spanish networks Univision and Telemundo Wednesday, Obama said that the bipartisan bill that was proposed by the so-called "Group of Eight" from the U.S. Senate was on the path of a "reasonable timetable" and could even be passed in the first half of 2013.

"I can guarantee that I will put everything I've got behind it," Obama said on Telemundo. "We're putting our shoulder to the wheel."

As promised last week, President Obama has made immigration reform the theme of the week on his itinerary. On Tuesday, he drew national attention when he spoke at a high school in Las Vegas, Nev., about the need to pass new immigration policies in order to help both the U.S. economy and millions of undocumented immigrants looking for an opportunity to become citizens.

Speaking to both the Spanish networks, Obama reiterated that he also wanted stronger border security as part of the measures, but politics should not be an excuse for any further delay on fixing immigration.

"I can guarantee that I will put everything I have behind it," Obama said.

Days after President Obama proposed a plan on immigration that included a pathway to citizenship, the bipartisan group of senators--which included U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Charles Shumer, D-N.Y.--put forward their own plan, which also features a path to citizenship but also calls for tougher border protection and penalties for businesses that hire undocumented workers.

However, Obama appears to be encouraging the plan and pushing the GOP towards accepting the bipartisan agreement put forward by those senators.

"It's important for us to recognize that the foundation for bipartisan action is already in place," Obama said, referring to the bipartisan plan during his speech Tuesday. "And if Congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away."

Another group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives is working on its own proposal.

However, Rubio has also stated earlier this week that in order to pass immigration reform, parts of the Obamacare health care reforms would have to be reconsidered. 

On conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh's radio show Tuesday, Rubio gave his thoughts on the matter.

"If you are a lawfully present in the country but you are not a green-card holder, you do not qualify for any federal benefits," he said. "That's existing law. And so that means that the folks that are gonna be in this probationary stage that's in our principles, they don't qualify for any federal benefits except for one, Obamacare. Obamacare is the only federal benefit where you qualify for it, not because you have a green card but only because you're lawfully present."  

"That needs to be resolved because if Obamacare is available to 11 million people, it blows a hole in our budget and makes this bill undoable. That's one of the major issues we're gonna have to confront," Rubio added.