Immigration momentum grows in House

Ianus · 06-18-2013, 02:16 PM

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ill-92941.html

Quote:

The Republican-led House will take its deepest dive yet into immigration reform this week, rushing to play catchup with the Senate on the chief domestic policy battle this year.

The House bipartisan group, which has labored for four years without releasing anything, is finally on the verge of producing a bill. The House Judiciary Committee is holding its first immigration markup on Tuesday on an enforcement-centered bill that Democrats abhor.

And the all-Democratic Congressional Hispanic Caucus will huddle with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday, and immigration will undoubtedly be a hot topic.

“He’s the speaker of the House, the leader of the House and of the Republican Conference,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), head of the CHC immigration task force, said in an interview Monday. “He wants to get comprehensive immigration reform; we want to get comprehensive immigration reform passed. We should form a pact. Let’s cement it this Wednesday.”

The dual-track approach could signal actual momentum on House immigration reform, which so far has lagged considerably behind efforts on the other side of the Capitol. The Senate is considering the bipartisan Gang of Eight bill on the floor and may vote on it before the July 4th recess.

After several setbacks and one member withdrawing his support in an intractable disagreement over health care, the House group — now composed of three Republicans and four Democrats — appears poised to unveil its bill. That could come as early as Wednesday, although later in the week or early next week is more likely.

Negotiators have to meet again for the finishing touches and to review the language that has come back from the House legislative counsel. And the four Democratic negotiators — Reps. Xavier Becerra and Zoe Lofgren of California, John Yarmuth of Kentucky and Gutierrez — will update all House Democrats at a caucus meeting on Tuesday.

The group’s Democratic members also are having smaller briefings with different members throughout the week — meetings with the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus are on tap for Tuesday, while New Democrats — a center-left coalition — and the Congressional Progressive Caucus are scheduled for Wednesday.

“Democratic members are seeking input from their caucus on the bipartisan agreement the working group is drafting into legislative language,” a Democratic aide said. “It’s their hope that once all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed, they will be able to introduce the measure with support from both sides of the aisle.”

But the focus will be on the meeting between Boehner and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It is believed this will be the first time that a Republican House speaker has met with the group, which is composed of all Democrats.

Boehner has privately put out word that he wants the House to act on immigration reform before the August recess and has been publicly bullish on the chances of a bill for President Barack Obama to sign into law by the end of the year.

Still, what Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) will do is key.

The powerful Judiciary Committee chairman, who has jurisdiction over immigration, hasn’t committed to moving forward on anything from the House bipartisan group — and it’s unclear whether he will, although he’s still open to that option.

“Chairman Goodlatte has said all along that he encourages the House working group to continue working on a bill, but that their proposal (if ever introduced) is one of many options,” a Judiciary Committee aide said in an email Monday.

Meanwhile, Goodlatte is forging ahead with his piece-by-piece approach, starting Tuesday with a markup on an enforcement bill that would give states the authority to carry out federal immigration laws. After the committee finishes that, it will move on to another piece of the immigration reform puzzle — a temporary agricultural guest worker program.

Republicans say a tougher enforcement strategy is necessary to shut off future waves of illegal immigration into the United States, and Goodlatte has called the bill — formally dubbed the SAFE Act — a “game changer.”

But Democrats and immigrant advocates have likened the legislation to Arizona’s controversial 2010 immigration law and have raised concerns that the bill could encourage racial profiling. They have also spoken against provisions in the bill that they believe could allow immigrants to be detained indefinitely, and have warned that moving forward on the bill would further poison the Republican Party’s standing with Latinos. Gutierrez, Becerra and a slew of immigration activists will gather for a press conference Tuesday to protest the bill.

“I cannot think of a single soul in the Democratic Caucus who believes in an enforcement-only approach that demonizes immigrants,” Gutierrez said. “As an American, this is the worst thing that we can be doing.”

One House Republican who has been negotiating with Democrats said he understood that the House had to move ahead, despite the lack of a bipartisan bill so far.

“I’m hoping that we’ll be able to have a bipartisan proposal to bring forward to the House in relatively short order,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said Monday on MSNBC. “In the meantime, however, it’s important the House do what it’s going to do.”

The only constant that has been seen from the House of Representatives concerning immigration is consistent delay.Hopefully the legalization provisions make it through this Republican led process and we can finally see the Dream act provisions agreed upon in the House!

frbc13 · 06-18-2013, 03:21 PM

What about the "Trilingual left handed people whose last name starts with an X caucus" ? Their support is key for this thing to pass.

2Face · 06-18-2013, 04:24 PM

Luis Gutierrez is the only reason why many of us are still hopeful in the House. He is our only hope if you ask me. He is the guy who can bring Boehner on our side. Gutierrez is a warrior. He will pull through for us God willing.

DA User · 06-19-2013, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Face

Luis Gutierrez is the only reason why many of us are still hopeful in the House. He is our only hope if you ask me. He is the guy who can bring Boehner on our side. Gutierrez is a warrior. He will pull through for us God willing.

He is the Durbin of the Senate. There are lot of hopes in the House. The most important being the Speaker.

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Immigration momentum grows in House