McCain announces meeting with Obama to discuss immigration reform

US Sen. John McCain has said that he and other lawmakers working on immigration overhaul will meet with President Barack Obama this week to discuss the effort to revamp the system.
McCain, a member of a bipartisan group of eight senators working on an immigration reform bill, said he is optimistic about producing legislation that includes a path to legalisation for illegal immigrants, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“I am guardedly optimistic that we could by the end of the next month. There are still a number of agreements that need to be made before I can assure you that we will have a resolution,” he was quoted as saying in news reports when asked about the prospects for reaching a deal.
While they differ on some key details, both Obama and the Senate are contemplating legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S., tighten border security, crack down on businesses that employ illegal workers and strengthen the legal immigration system.
McCain ticked off those aspects and added that he also envisions the legislation including a process for foreign agricultural and low-skilled labourers to work in the United States, a provision for highly educated workers to remain in the U.S., better identification cards for migrants and a special path for migrants brought to the U.S. as children, the AP report said.
“On some of those we have specific agreement, in other areas we agree in principle, but we have not resolved the details,” he said. “We are making progress, but we are still not at a point where we can say we will succeed.”
The meeting marks Obama’s most direct involvement to date in negotiations by the bipartisan group of senators working to craft comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Wary of making it harder for Republicans to support an eventual bill by embracing it too closely, Obama has instead kept his distance.
The White House is prepping its own bill, but says it’s just a backup in case congressional talks fail. Senate aides said privately that bipartisan negotiations were in a good place and they did not feel as though the disclosure of details in Obama’s draft bill had disrupted their process.
Gehi & Associates will be closely monitoring the meeting between Sen. McCain and President Obama and keep the readers updated.