Days after President Obama's leaked plan regarding immigration reform was leaked in the press, Obama has reached out to prominent Republicans on his proposal.
According to the Washington Post, President Obama spent a portion of Tuesday speaking to U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.., and John McCain, R-Ariz., regarding their efforts on creating legislation that would bring about immigration reform.
All three senators are members of the "Gang of Eight," the group of bipartisan Republican and Democrat legislators that have been working on a compromise bill that would bring about highly-demanded reforms to the immigration system, including reinforcing border security while creating a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
According to White House officials, the president assured the senators he spoke with that he shared their commitment to fixing the nation's immigration laws and hopes that they will be ready to present a bill to Congress to that effect as soon as possible.
President Obama's gesture could be seen by many as a form of damage control that he's been doing after Republicans lashed out at the White House after USA Today leaked the details of Obama's immigration reform plan on Sunday. The details of what Obama administration officials call only a portion of part of the plan would call for allowing undocumented immigrants living inside U.S. borders to get temporary four-year visas to get legal status, while permitting them to apply for permanent residency after eight years or 30 days after visas have been given to applicants who applied legally.
Rubio was among the most outspoken against the leaked Obama plan, calling it "dead on arrival." However, after speaking with President Obama on Tuesday, a spokesman for Rubio's office told the Washington Post that the senator appreciated being able to speak with the president.
"The senator told the president that he feels good about the ongoing negotiations in the Senate and is hopeful the final product is something that can pass the Senate with strong bipartisan support," Rubio spokesman Alex Conant said.
A spokesman for Sen. Graham's office told the Wall Street Journal that Graham said he had a "short, cordial" conversation with the president regarding immigration overhaul. While President Obama had not spoken with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., the fourth GOP member of the "Gang of Eight," White House officials said that conversation would happen soon.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, McCain has had to field some tough questions from residents who were concerned about immigration overhaul.
On Tuesday, McCain hosted two town hall meetings in Arizona defending the bipartisan compromise legislation to residents who want stronger measures regarding border security.
Some residents said that only guns would cut down on illegal immigration, while another man said undocumented immigrants should never be allowed to vote or become citizens and another claimed that such immigrants were illiterate and sought only to live off government benefits.
In response, McCain said the bipartisan plan has several requirements that undocumented immigrants must first meet before becoming citizens, including the payment of back taxes and fines as well as learning English. McCain, a former GOP presidential candidate, also urged residents to practice tolerance.
"There are 11 million people living here illegally," he said. "We are not going to get enough buses to deport them." McCain added that the U.S. was a Judeo-Christian nation, and as such, he implored residents to think compassionately.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said last week that the Arizona U.S.-Mexico border posed a problem to residents due to drug and human trafficking near it. According to a January report from the U,S, Border Patrol's Tuscon sector, roughly 38 percent of all drug seizures and 37 percent of all apprehensions along the border come from Tuscon.
With securing the border being a sticking point in the bipartisan proposal, Brewer said that the border can't be deemed secure until Arizona residents living near it feel safe.
However, U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona, said that the border has become more secure in recent years, and that word needed to spread regarding that end.
A recent statement from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano indicated that according to her department, border crossings have decreased by 50 percent since 2008 and are down 78 percent since their peak in 2000.
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