House GOP Puts Immigration on Back Burner

Ianus · 09-03-2013, 07:26 PM

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...003063378.html

Quote:

WASHINGTON—Prospects for an immigration overhaul have dimmed over the summer congressional recess, as a newly crowded agenda damps what already was tepid interest among House leaders in taking up the issue.

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said in July he hoped the House would consider immigration bills before turning to negotiations on raising the nation's debt ceiling this fall. But as the House prepares to reconvene next week, GOP leaders have no plans to bring immigration bills to the floor, aides say.

President Barack Obama, meanwhile, has placed a major, new issue on the agenda by asking Congress to authorize military strikes in Syria. A debate over federal spending levels for the next fiscal year is likely to dominate much of September and the weeks beyond.

In a sign of diminished expectations, the House Judiciary Committee chairman said there is nothing wrong with having a debate that doesn't end with an immigration bill being signed into law.

"We pass bills all the time that don't get passed all the way through and signed into law, because we want to spell out to the American people what we think the right solutions to our problems are," the chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.), said in an interview. "I don't believe immigration reform should be any different than that."

At the same time, Mr. Boehner faces considerable pressure from business groups, evangelicals, law enforcement and some GOP donors for action on immigration legislation.

House leaders will check in with lawmakers returning to Washington next week to see if there is a groundswell for action. But absent an unexpected reversal, advocates of an overhaul are predicting action may have to wait until 2014.

House leaders have said they won't consider the broad, bipartisan immigration bill passed by the Senate in June. That bill included enhanced border security, provisions for tougher enforcement of immigration law, a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. Mr. Boehner has said these issues would be addressed in pieces. But Mr. Goodlatte said it is "too soon" to say what legislation the House will consider, or what the strategy for passing it may be. He rejected any "artificial deadline" for action.

His committee has passed four immigration bills without Democratic support. But those measures likely would need Democratic votes to clear the full House, given the reluctance among some Republicans to advance any bill for fear that it would lead to compromises with the Senate. A border-security bill that cleared the Homeland Security Committee unanimously may have chance at passage, but leadership aides say there are no plans yet to take up that bill.

Republicans are also talking about legislation to give legal status to people brought to the U.S. as children, but they have yet to lay out details.

Meanwhile, Democrats working on a bipartisan House bill say it is completed and that they are waiting for Republicans to agree to release it. But a Republican in the group, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, disagreed, saying his conversations with fellow Republicans have convinced him that further changes are needed.

Among their worries, he said, are that a pathway to citizenship will open for illegal immigrants that isn't available to those who used existing legal channels. He also wants to ensure that Mr. Obama would enforce the bill's provisions, which many Republicans doubt he would. "We need to tweak the bill to address these points," he said.

"I was hopeful we would be in a better place today," Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D., Ill.), another member of the group, told reporters last week.

During the August congressional recess, advocates for a broad overhaul of immigration laws that would legalize many illegal immigrants held rallies and meetings with GOP lawmakers in hopes of persuading them that political support for an overhaul was strong in their districts.

About two dozen House Republicans have said publicly they are open to a path to citizenship for those now here illegally, with other Republicans favoring legal status for this group. There also were few high-profile events opposing an overhaul of the sort that killed a similar immigration push in 2006 and 2007.

"The pressure is working," argued Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a pro-immigration advocacy group. "Our question is, when are we going to have a week of votes on immigration?"

john_smith · 09-03-2013, 07:44 PM

this sucks

VeryNicePerson1 · 08:01 PM

LOL, Congress epic fail imminent again...smh...wowwwww...lol...

The bad news isn't even waiting to be revealed end of October when nothing is even close to passing, let alone being revealed/drafted...bad news is starting right now on the cusp of Congress getting back into session...wowwwwww...

Pluribus · 09-03-2013, 07:59 PM

Also, let it be known that they haven't done anything, anything at all.

dtrt09 · 09-03-2013, 08:28 PM

Question for the Obama apologists and Dems' defenders, are the President and Democrats going to demand70 senate votes and a super-majority in order to pass a resolution on Syria?
Is it not far more consequential to attack another country, violate intn'l law, and defy 80% public opposition to war than merly making a legitimate effort to legalize undocumented workers?

Obama's twitter account keeps asking for retweets to show support for immigration reform, yet, I don't see him asking the American public to support a war that 80% do not want.

We should demand 70 Senate votes and a house super majority in order to go to war. Does a domedtic priority issue as CIR is, not important enough for you, Mr.President? No, it's not.

DreamBig09 · 09-03-2013, 08:29 PM

I KNEW something was gonna happen that would put immigration aside. This sucks lmao

dtrt09 · 08:39 PM

Part two: Actually, we need the house bill to ne introduced asap, let the American people see how BOTH parties toy carelessly with 11 million lives within their own country. It's a ruse, Rep.'s Gutierrez's claim that he needs republicans to *introduce* legislation. Just ad it was unnecesdary to have 70 Senate votes for a bill that ended up being slave labor and is collecting dust.

P.S Typing errors due to using my phone while riding public transportation.

Frank Knight · 09-03-2013, 09:20 PM

So. Anyone care to move to Australia?

IamAman · 09-03-2013, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Knight

So. Anyone care to move to Australia?

In 1994 I decided I would go down with this ship and I shall. U S A! U S A!

john_smith · 09-03-2013, 09:54 PM

Maybe we should convince Canada and other world economies to take dreamers if it comes down to that, that way we have more options than living in the nightmare of shadows, I am not going back to a 3rd world country..

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House GOP Puts Immigration on Back Burner