WASHINGTON – The White House is circulating a draft immigration bill that would create a new visa for illegal immigrants now in America and let them become legal permanent residents within eight years, according to a report published online Saturday by USA Today.

President Barack Obama’s bill would create a “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” visa for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. The bill includes more security funding and requires business owners to adopt a system for verifying the immigration status of new hires within four years.

The bill would require that immigrants pass a criminal background check, submit biometric information and pay fees to qualify for the new visa. Immigrants who have served more than a year in prison for a criminal conviction or were convicted of three or more crimes and sentenced to a total of 90 days in jail would not be eligible. Crimes committed in other countries that would bar immigrants from legally entering the country would also make them ineligible.

Immigrants facing deportation would be eligible to apply for the visa, the newspaper reported. Immigrants would be eligible to apply for a green card within eight years if they learn English and U.S. history and government, and they would later be eligible to become U.S. citizens.

Republicans were quick to criticize the draft, and expressed anger at not being consulted.

“It’s a mistake for the White House to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from Republican members of Congress,” said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, lambasting the “half-baked and seriously flawed” proposal.

Rubio, who is leading Republican efforts on immigration legislation that is seen as crucial in the wake of his party’s poor performance with Latinos in November’s elections, said the president’s plan would be “dead on arrival” in Congress.

Rubio said Obama’s bill is not tough enough on securing the long border with Mexico, and it “puts those who broke our immigration laws at an advantage over those who chose to do things the right way and come here legally.”

The National Immigration Forum, which advocates for immigration reform, said the White House proposal seems “very moderate” but lacks provisions for a future comprehensive system. “America’s economy needs the President and Congress to craft a stable immigration system that serves our economy and our workforce,” National Immigration Forum Executive Director Ali Noorani said. “Common-sense immigration reform must include a functioning immigration system for the future; reform does not begin and end with citizenship and enforcement alone.”

Noorani also warned that a large increase in border patrol agents and immigration judges, as advocated in the president’s plan, “would be better used at ports of entry and reducing the backlog for legal immigrants.”

Obama urged Congress, in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, to pass comprehensive immigration reform “in the next few months.”

Eight senators — four of Obama’s Democratic allies and four Republicans — unveiled a plan last month aiming to provide a legal status to illegal immigrants living on U.S. soil.

The burst of activity on Capitol Hill marks the best chance in years to craft legislation to tighten border security, improve employment verification and bring the huge illegal immigrant population out of legal limbo.

Obama says he will present his own immigration bill if Congress cannot come to an agreement soon. His Republican foes are focusing on the need for greater border security.

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