Immigration Reform 2013: Gang of Eight Agrees on How to Grant Illegal Residents Legal Status In Immigration Reform Bill

After weeks of negotiations, the bipartisan U.S. Senate group appears to have reached an agreement on how to grant millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S legal status, a huge part of the deal for fixing the nation's immigration laws.

The L.A. Times reported Monday that the eight-member Senate panel that includes Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.., have hammered out details on that piece of their highly-anticipated bill that would bring about comprehensive immigration reform if passed by Congress and President Obama.

The panel met behind closed doors this past week in Washington.

Aides familiar with the negotiations said the bill would require undocumented immigrants to register with the Homeland Security Department, as well as file federal income taxes for the time they have spent living in U.S. borders and pay a fine that will be determined at a later time.

In return, should they be granted legal status on a probationary basis, those immigrants would be allowed to work, but would not be able to receive public benefits such as food stamps, unemployment insurance, family cash assistance, and Medicaid.

The new development marks a big step forward in getting a deal brokered that would bring about comprehensive immigration reform, a topic that has taken the national spotlight since the November elections, where a wave of Latino voters supported President Obama in the polls at the expense of GOP candidate Mitt Romney, whose proposed policies on immigration were viewed largely by Latinos as unfavorable.

The senate group's plan, the Times notes, is "largely in line" with President Obama's proposal on immigration, leaked last month, which calls for a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants residing on U.S. soil.

However, there are still several major outstanding questions, including the waiting time that undocumented immigrants would need to wait before they can apply for permanent green cards-which aides expect could be 10 years or longer-as well as the number of visas that should be issued to high-tech immigrant workers and other guest workers and how to track them when they leave the country.

Sen. Rubio told reporters that a visa program that could ensure the success of U.S. labor was needed, otherwise, "What you're going to have is people coming into the country illegally or overstaying visas."

Another big question that remains is border security and how to pay for it. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the center for Immigration Studies, told the Christian Science Monitor this month that while there has been improvement in making the borders more secure, "the job is not yet finished."

Those same concerns have been repeated by Republicans on Capitol Hill that may determine whether or not a bill is passed within the next several months, as President Obama has repeatedly stated has been his goal.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has stated that the borders have never been stronger, but Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, disagrees.

"I do not believe the border is secure, and I still believe we have a long, long way to go," he told the Christian Science Monitor.