Senators behind a bipartisan immigration overhaul declared their efforts to craft legislation “a major breakthrough” and hope to pass it by this summer.

In unveiling a set of principles for enhancing border security, providing a pathway to citizenship and creating an employee verification system, the eight senators noted they still have to actually write the bill.

“We still have a long way to go, but this bipartisan movement is a major breakthrough,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who is a member of Democratic leadership and chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s immigration, refugees and border security subcommittee.

He continued, “It’s our hope that these bipartisan principles can be turned into legislation by March and a markup [in the Judiciary Committee] with the goal of passage out of the Senate by late spring or summer.”

The group of senators who drafted the principles includes Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Along with Schumer, the Democrats include Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado.