By LAURA MECKLER
Associated Press
President Barack Obama speaking about immigration overhaul at a Las Vegas high school last month.
WASHINGTON—New details of a White House immigration plan have been released, upsetting Senate Republicans working on a bipartisan bill and threatening to complicate the delicate legislative process now under way.
President Barack Obama had already outlined his principles for an immigration overhaul and had said he would offer a bill if the Senate negotiations stall. Many Republicans and some Democrats have cautioned him to keep his distance from the process for fear of driving away potential GOP support.
But on Saturday, USA Today reported new details of the fallback legislation the White House is preparing, including details of an eight-year path for the 11 million people who are in the country illegally to qualify for citizenship and a four-year transition period for employers to implement systems to verify the legal status of new hires.
The new details, which were confirmed by a person familiar with the legislation, weren’t surprising or particularly controversial, people from both parties said Sunday, and the major differences between the White House and Senate approaches were already well known. But key Republicans said they feared the leak could jeopardize the delicate talks by making it appear Mr. Obama was trying to influence the legislation.
“Leaks don’t happen in Washington by accident. So this raises the question: Does the president really want a result or does he want another cudgel to beat up Republicans so he can gain advantage in the next election?” Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), one of four Republican senators working on the legislation, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), a longtime supporter of an immigration overhaul, said that making these legislative details public “tells us that [Mr. Obama is] looking for a partisan advantage and not a bipartisan solution.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), another member of the group, who has been working to sell the Senate plan to conservatives, said in a statement that the White House legislation was “half-baked and seriously flawed” and “would actually make our immigration problems worse.” He said the plan would be “dead on arrival” if proposed to Congress.
Still, an aide said Mr. Rubio remained committed to the Senate talks, and Mr. McCain said, “I believe we are making progress on a bipartisan basis. I believe we can come up with a product.”
A White House official said the leak wasn’t intentional and added officials reached out to Democratic and Republican Senate offices Saturday night to make that clear. “We were surprised…[and] thought it was unfortunate,” the official said. He said the White House focus remains on supporting the congressional process under way and the president is pleased by the state of progress.
The White House had circulated the plan to federal agencies for comment, which means numerous government officials had seen it.
The Senate group, which includes four Republicans and four Democrats, hopes to have legislation drafted by March and to begin moving it through the Senate this spring. White House aides have been consulting with the group about how to craft its details.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, appearing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” emphasized that the legislation is meant only as a backup in case the Congress stalls.
Quoting Mr. Rubio, Mr. McDonough said, “He says it’s ‘dead on arrival’ if it’s proposed. Well, let’s make sure that it doesn’t have to be proposed. Let’s make sure that that group up there, the gang of eight, makes good progress on these efforts, as much as they say they want to, and that’s exactly what we intend to do, to work with them.”
Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) said the White House version was obviously going to be more liberal than one negotiated with Republicans.
“If a Democrat, the president or anyone else puts out what they want on their own, it’s going to be different than what you have a bipartisan agreement, but the only way we’re going to get something done is with a bipartisan agreement,” he said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added that Mr. Obama had “given us the space” to negotiate a deal and that he was optimistic the Senate could succeed.
Some argued Sunday that the release could help the process by allowing Republicans to attack the president and put distance between their effort and Mr. Obama. One GOP Senate aide allowed for that possibility, but said the greater likelihood is that the events confirm fears of conservatives that Mr. Obama will push the legislation to the political left in a way they will be unable to support.
The fault lines between the White House approach and the Senate framework were already known well before the weekend.
For instance, the Senate group has said certain metrics for securing the U.S. border with Mexico would have to be reached before a path to citizenship kicks in for the people who are in the country illegally.
And neither the White House principles nor its legislative draft include a program for low-skilled workers to come to the U.S. legally for temporary or other jobs that Americans don’t want. That program is a priority for Republicans and business leaders, but is viewed skeptically by labor unions. The president hasn’t ruled out including a program in the final bill, but those working on the issue say the White House saw no advantage to making its own proposal.
The White House draft does include new details about other aspects of an immigration overhaul, which were confirmed by the person familiar with it.
It would allow those in the country illegally to qualify for a “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” visa right away, after passing a criminal-background check, submitting biometric information and paying fees. People wouldn’t be eligible if they had been convicted of crimes that led to a prison term of at least a year; or three different crimes that resulted in a total of 90 days in jail; or had committed an offense abroad that would render the person removable from the U.S. if they had committed it in the U.S.
Once receiving the provisional status, these people could, after eight years, qualify for a green card—legal permanent residence—if they learn English and U.S. history and pay back taxes. That would allow them to apply for citizenship after a further five years. That is similar to the process that failed to pass Congress in 2007.
The White House draft calls for enhanced border security, a priority for Republicans, but isn’t specific about all its provisions. It does propose adding 140 new immigration judges to process violators.
It calls for expansion of the E-Verify program that businesses use to check the immigration status of potential employees. Businesses employing more than 1,000 workers would have to use the system within two years, those with more than 250 workers would have three years and all businesses would have to use the system within four years.
The draft also calls for a new Social Security card that is resistant to fraud, tampering and wear within two years.
Write to Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com
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