WASHINGTON — The introduction of sweeping immigration legislation on Tuesday is likely to ignite a months-long battle between those who want citizenship for the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants and opponents who view such an approach as amnesty.
A bipartisan group of eight senators plans to unveil legislation, drafted largely in secret, that would provide a 13-year path to American citizenship for illegal immigrants who arrived in the country before Dec. 31, 2011, but would demand that tougher border controls be in place first. The legislation is certain to unleash a torrent of attacks from Republican opponents on the immigration overhaul, similar to the kind of criticism that killed an effort supported by President George W. Bush in 2007.
The group plans to file the legislation on Tuesday, but canceled its scheduled news conference because of the Boston Marathon bombing.
“We all met in the middle, knowing we would not please our entire constituencies, but the imperative of doing this is so important to the country that we had to get it done,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and a member of the bipartisan group. “Americans will be common-sense and fair to legal immigration and the 11 million who are here as long as they’re convinced there won’t be future waves of illegal immigration.”
