President to unveil immigration proposal

President to unveil immigration proposal

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  • Immigration

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WASHINGTON -

President Obama makes a big push for immigration reform Tuesday just as a bipartisan group of senators drafts its own plan.

We haven't seen this kind of momentum behind immigration reform in years.  The question Tuesday: Will the President largely endorse a plan that is already coming together on Capitol Hill?

Cracking down on border security -- that may become the crux of the debate.  Should we do more to stabilize the border before offering a new pathway to citizenship?

At a big campaign-style rally in Las Vegas Tuesday, President Obama may suggest that he has already done enough.

"This President in his first term has aggressively addressed those challenges and taken historic steps to creating a situation where we have tighter border security than we've ever had," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

But that may fly in the face of efforts on Capitol Hill, where a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that would offer what many consider to be a form of amnesty for perhaps 11 million illegal immigrants -- but only if the border is better secured.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio may be the key to selling this to conservatives.

"That trigger is critically important otherwise it will never happen. That's why we are where we are today. Because when they did this in 1986, they did not do the enforcement and that lead to 11 million people... We'll be right back here in 10 years or less if we don't do the enforcement part," he said.

Beyond border security, the White House says the President actually likes much of what seems to be making some headway in Congress, but he was also propelled into a second term with overwhelming support from Hispanic voters -- and he may be emboldened to press for more.

Then there's the matter of public support.  According to a new FOX News poll, two thirds of registered voters think that illegal immigrants should have a pathway to citizenship.

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