House Republicans under fire over their "DREAM Act" bill

House Republicans took heat from the White House on Tuesday over their plan to give legal status to children of undocumented immigrants, but not the parents.

Dan Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, took to his twitter account on Tuesday to express his frustration with "the cruel hypocrisy of the [Republican] immigration plan: allow some kids to stay but deport their parents."

Pfeiffer's comment came as the House Judiciary Committee prepared to convene a hearing on what to do about immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children.

House Republican leaders have embraced granting citizenship to undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children, but oppose an across-the-board path to citizenship for adults. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) are working on a bill that would help younger immigrants without including broader citizenship measures.

Democrats and immigration advocates argue that granting citizenship to children and not adults risks separating families. They are holding out for the House to pass the bipartisan immigration-reform bill that cleared the Senate in June, which included measures to secure the nation’s borders and create a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country. But most House Republicans oppose the bill.

The Republican proposal is actually in line with current White House policy. Last year President Barack Obama announced his administration would cease deportation for young undocumented immigrants, while continuing to deport older immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. The Obama administration has deported a record number of undocumented immigrants, averaging 400,000 deportations per year.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says criticism of the Republican plan isn’t hypocritical since the administration doesn’t foresee current policy lasting long.

"This was not a resolution to the long-term problem," Carney said in a press conference. "The long-term problem has to be addressed through comprehensive immigration reform. Everyone on Capitol Hill knows that, including Republicans in the House."

The White House’s current policy was enacted after a Republican-led Senate failed to pass the DREAM Act in 2010. Ironically, that bill, like Republican’s current proposal, only offered citizenship to undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children.

But now that a comprehensive plan like the one passed by the Senate is in sight, Democrats and outside activists say they won't settle for anything less.

Still, it looks unlikely that a comprehensive plan will pass any time soon. Congress is preparing to break for a month-long summer recess at the end of next week without taking action in the House on any immigration legislation – leaving prospects cloudy for one of President Obama’s second-term priorities.

Al Jazeera and wire services