The 11 million undocumented immigrants that already live in the United States could receive a path to citizenship, says Representative Bob Goodlatte. USA Today says that the path might include a temporary legal status that would mean immigrants would then be able to put in an application for a green card and citizenship at a later date.
While Goodlatte claims that he personally does not support the idea of giving US citizenship to people who came to the country unlawfully, he told C-SPAN in an interview that he, as well other House of Representatives members, are open to the idea of giving them a chance to be able to “come out of the shadows” and be able to work, pay taxes, and own their own businesses as well as being able to travel in and out of the country.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have been largely resistant to the idea of offering a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants, although Goodlatte claims that foreigners already have avenues available to them such as being petitioned by a US citizen, marrying a US citizen or being sponsored by a US employer.
The possibility of Republicans supporting the path to citizenship came from House Speaker John Boehner, according to USA Today. While Boehner refused to say whether he supported the idea he stated that he would do his job in assisting to solve the problems that surround immigration reform. “The vast majority of our members do believe that we have to wrestle with this problem,” he says.