Just months after the GOP’s poor performance among Latino voters, a group of eight senators -- four Republicans and four Democrats -- has renewed calls for immigration reform.
The plan would address four issues: border security, expanding opportunities for legal immigrants, an employee identification system and an arduous path to citizenship.
But Republican Senator Roy Blunt told reporters that it's the last one that will be the most problematic.
"The path to citizenship is the least defined and the hardest for people to accept," Blunt told reporters in a conference call. "Wal-Mart knows more about how many rolls of paper towels they have in any given store than we know about someone who’s here illegally and if they’re still here or not. We're way behind.”
Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill says the plan is important, especially for immigrants succeeding academically.
“Then they are being told that even though you’ve never lived in another country, we’re going to separate you from your family and deport you. And that doesn’t make sense to those in my state. And this is what’s going to be fixed in this discussion.”
Follow Chris McDaniel on Twitter: @csmcdaniel