By Elise Foley | The Huffington Post
House Republican leaders laid out their long-awaited immigration reform principles on Thursday to the GOP conference, suggesting a broad step-by-step plan that would include more border security and enforcement, major changes to the legal immigration system and what will likely be the most contentious issue: legal status for some people who are in the country without authorization.
The principles aren’t detailed and are considered more a jumping-off point for discussion than proposed bills, but it’s a start for the House GOP, which has delayed on immigration reform since the Senate passed a bill last June.
“The problem has been around for at least the last 15 years and turned into a political football — I think it’s unfair,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters at a press conference earlier in the day. “I think this is the time to deal with it. But how we deal with it is going to be critically important.”
