WASHINGTON -- Florida Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar and Texas Democrat Rep. Veronica Escobar have teamed up on a sprawling immigration bill that aims to revamp asylum processing, slash visa backlogs and provide a path to legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants.
The nearly 500-page bill, set to be announced Tuesday, represents a rare bipartisan effort on immigration, a topic that has become a political wedge issue and source of stalemate in Congress for decades. And it includes proposals that incorporate elements from earlier, narrower bipartisan immigration bills.
The proposed legislation would create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children, known as Dreamers. It would also establish a program to allow other undocumented immigrants to live and work in the country legally if they pay restitution.
