Two Republican Senators from border states have rolled out bill that would give visas to young illegal immigrants as long as they meet certain criteria.

According to the news release from Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson (TX) and John Kyl (AZ), the immigrants would need to attend school (and earn a bachelor's, associate's, vocational/technical, or advanced degree within 6 years), or serve in the U.S. military (for at least 4 years).

To be eligible:

- Applicant must have lived in the United States for five years prior to enactment;
- Applicant must have entered the country before the age of 14;
- Applicant must have good moral character;
- Applicant must not have committed a felony, must not have committed more than one misdemeanor, must not have committed a crime of moral turpitude, and must not have a final order of removal pending;
- Applicant must have knowledge of the English language, of American history, and of principles of U.S. government;
- Applicant must be 28 or younger at the time of application (unless applicant is under 32 and possesses a bachelor's degree from a U.S. college at the time of application);
- Applicants pay an application fee;
- Applicants complete a medical exam and submit biometric and biographic data as part of a background check.

To maintain W-1 visa status, visa holders:

- Must check in every six months with the DHS, and be compliant with program requirements;
- Must not access public welfare benefits;
- Must not access federal student loans, or other federal benefits, but may work while in school
- Do not have access to a green card while here on the W-1 visa.

This reads very much like the DREAM Act which the President essentially enacted all on his own by refusing to deport young illegal immigrants who were not violent criminals.

The big difference is that this ACHIEVE Act does NOT give the participants citizenship, whereas the DREAM Act does.

“Ours is better than the Dream Act because it doesn’t allow them to cut in line,” Hutchison said.”It doesn’t keep them from applying under the rules today, but it doesn’t give them a special preference before those who have waited in line for years to get into the citizenship track.”

Democrats and DREAM Act supporters decried the act as political pandering and counter productive to the pursuit of immigration reform.

United We Dream, an advocacy group for immigrant youth education issued a statement calling the Achieve Act a “cynical political gesture” and rejected it out right for not providing a path to citizenship.

Some Democrats in Congress say they'll pursue a comprehensive immigration bill, so this proposal won't go very far.

Here's the video of the announcement: