Curbelo introduces bill aiming to legalize young undocumented immigrants

Legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) on Friday would offer a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children.

Curbelo introduced the bill with nine original cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Jeff Denham (R-CA), Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Fred Upton (R-MI), to offer vetted immigrants a path to citizenship through higher education, service in the armed forces or work authorization.

“Over the years many immigrant children have arrived in our country — brought by their parents who either illegally crossed one of our borders or overstayed their visas,” Curbelo said. “For most of these young people, the United States is the only country they have ever called home. They attended school with our own children, graduated high school and today they are seeking to serve in our military, pursue a college degree or certificate and contribute to our economy by working.”

Under the bill, immigrants would first be granted five-year conditional status before they would be eligible to reapply for five-year permanent status.

“We have many undocumented young adults in America who were brought here through no fault of their own and know no other country to call home,” Denham said. “If these young men and women are willing to serve in the military, pursue a degree or contribute to the economy, then I believe they should have the opportunity to do so.”

Amodei said he’s “sick of defending” doing nothing in terms of congressional action on immigration.

“I’d rather be criticized for attempting to move an issue toward solution than criticized for repeated inaction,” Amodei said. “I believe this bill is a step in the right direction and I’m pleased to team up with Congressman Curbelo and my colleagues in the House to reform our broken immigration system.”

For young people impacted by the bill, Upton said, the United States is their home, and they’ve been raised in its neighborhoods and attended its schools.

“This legislation simply gives these kids, who have been carefully vetted by the Department of Homeland Security, the chance to earn legal status by pursuing higher education, serving in our armed forces, or entering the workforce,” Upton said. “I’ve long been supportive of common sense, bipartisan reforms to our broken immigration system and hope to see this piece of legislation advance quickly.”