WASHINGTON — House Republicans have dreamed up another hoop for America’s 11 million illegal immigrants to jump through to become citizens — and it includes a slap on the wrist from a federal judge, according to sources familiar with the plan.
The House measure would require current illegal aliens to appear in federal court and plead guilty to breaking immigration laws before gaining legal status and starting a 10-year path to citizenship, which is the centerpiece of the reforms.
Under the proposal, the judge would sentence the illegal immigrants to probation for the 10 years they are waiting to become citizens.
The requirement is designed to appease conservatives who oppose a path to citizenship because they consider it to be “amnesty” for immigration scofflaws. The support of conservative lawmakers in the GOP-run House will be crucial to passing any immigration reform package.
However, the court requirement also could be a deal-breaker for immigrant-rights advocates in the House and Senate who insist on a relatively pain-free path to citizenship.
“The legal process in the House bill is stiffer to emphasize that the law was broken, and to [recognize] the need to uphold the rule of law,” a Republican aide told the newspaper Roll Call, which first reported the deal.
Other congressional sources familiar with the proposal told The Post that such a dramatic overture to conservatives indicated that House negotiations had stalled.
A bipartisan House group including Reps. John Carter (R-Texas), Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Sam Johnson (R-Texas), Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) is drawing up a bill separate from the legislation introduced two weeks ago by the Senate’s bipartisan Gang of Eight.
Under the Senate bill, illegal aliens would have to pay a $500 fine and show they’ve been in the United States continually since before Dec. 31, 2011. They also have to prove they’ve been employed, earning above the federal poverty level, and paying all taxes.
The Senate bill doesn’t include a required court date.
The proposal got predictably mixed reviews from outside groups.
“The House proposal is ill-informed, counterproductive and backwards,” said Cecillia Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.
“This proposal to make aspiring citizens plead guilty to a crime is political theater of the worst kind — it only serves to stigmatize people,” she said.
Jon Feere of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates low immigration, called it a “good idea.” He said it would at least create a record of who broke immigration laws.