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House Republicans are considering a list of principles that could guide immigration reform legislation, should they decide to act on the issue. The list includes a pathway to legal status, but not citizenship, for illegal immigrants. Here's the difference.

Of all the sticking points in immigration reform, the stickiest is what to do about the estimated 11 million people already living illegally in the United States.

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The Senate, in its bipartisan reform bill approved last June, opted to grant a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. In the House, many Republicans call that "amnesty," and want none of it.Now, however, House Republicans are discussing this alternative: Provide a pathway to legal status, but not citizenship.

So far, that idea is just a talking point on a list of immigration reform principles that House Republicans are considering at a retreat on Marylands Eastern Shore Jan. 29-31. Even so, it could mark the road to an actual law or laws, so the distinction is important. Below we answer questions about legal status versus citizenship, and the arguments on both sides of the debate.

What does legal status entail?

Gaining legal status would likely mean three things for people now living in the US illegally, according to Doris Meissner, director of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that studies global migration.

First, they would no longer be subject to deportation solely because theyre in the country illegally, as long as they are law abiding in other ways. Second, they would be authorized to work. Third, they would have the ability to travel in and out of the United States. At least 60 percent of the illegal population has been in the US for more than 10 years, says Ms. Meissner, and are unable to return to their home countries to visit family or for other reasons.

Republicans would want immigrants to meet certain conditions to qualify for legal status, such as admitting they entered the country illegally, passing background checks, paying fines and back taxes, and becoming proficient in English and American civics.

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Immigration reform 101: How is 'legal status' different ...