White House Immigration Plan:  President Obama’s immigration proposal would include allowing “illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years,” USA Today reports.

“The plan also would provide for more security funding and require business owners to check the immigration status of new hires within four years. In addition, the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants could apply for a newly created “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” visa, under the bill being written by the White House. The draft was obtained from an Obama administration official who said it was being distributed to various agencies. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the proposal publicly.”

[…]

“The draft also expands the E-Verify program that checks the immigration status of people seeking new jobs. Businesses with more than 1,000 employees must begin using the system within two years, businesses with more than 250 employees within three years and all businesses within four years. The draft also requires the Government Accountability Office to study the program every year.”

One thing that was missing from the White House proposal is future legal immigration, specifically the guest worker program. It will be interesting to see how they approach this, since it is widely favored by many businesses.

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.