Immigration ReformLeading Democratic and Republican senators announced that they would push to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. This is the top priority for President Barack Obama’s second term. The six senators said they would introduce their plan this week.

President Obama is set to push his own immigration overhaul Tuesday with a speech in Las Vegas. The three Democratic and three Republican senators have been working on a plan in the past few weeks. One of the senators is Republican John McCain of Arizona. He said that his group still had a lot of work ahead but he was pleased with their progress. He added that the principles of their immigration plan would be laid out this week.

Senator McCain said that the plan would be like the 2007 immigration proposal that was shut down during the term of George W. Bush. The said plan included a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, guest worker program, tighter borders, and requirements for employers to verify workers’ immigration status.

The immigration issue was pushed aside during President Obama’s first term as the administration focused on economic issues. The president pledged to work on immigration reform in his second term as he got overwhelming support from Hispanic voters in his re-election. He cited the issue when sworn in for a second term last week.

Senator McCain said that the political aspect of immigration reform should sway Republicans who object any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. He said that his party is losing the Hispanic vote and his party members have to understand why. He added that change was needed because they can’t allow 11 million people living in the shadows in an illegal status. They should think of the children born in the country and those who were brought here by the parents.