All agree immigration policy needs reforms, but divides seen on how to proceed

Source: Washington Post

t was perhaps the one topic that received bipartisan attention Tuesday night — from President Obama during his State of the Union address, in the official Republican response delivered by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and in the tea party’s response to the response: the need to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.

But despite the bipartisan call for broad action, partisan divides on how the complex topic should be tackled were on display Wednesday as the Senate held its first substantive hearing on the path forward.

Several Republicans on the key Judiciary Committee complained that the nation’s borders are not secure and that the latest efforts to change laws could lead to a new attempt at amnesty for illegal immigrants similar to those they have helped derail in the past.

Some Democrats stressed that a legal rewrite must recognize the rights of same-sex immigrant couples, an issue some Republicans involved in the effort have said could cost GOP support.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/all-agree-immigration-policy-needs-reforms-but-divides-seen-on-how-to-proceed/2013/02/13/0c9820c6-75fc-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html