The No. 2 House Republican said Thursday that comprehensive immigration reform would be a “tall order” in Washington, but expressed optimism a deal is possible.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, appearing on Fox News on Thursday, likened immigration to other contentious issues including Obamacare and the Middle East peace process.
“But I will say, we’ve got an opportunity to come together on one point, and that is the kids,” Cantor said, voicing preference for a smaller-scale immigration fix. “If a kid was brought here by his parents or her parents, unbeknownst to them, and knows no other place … than America as home, why wouldn’t we want to give them a path to citizenship, and I think we should.”
Cantor’s view could help pierce the secrecy of House negotiations on immigration. The Virginia Republican is in charge of the House floor, charting action for legislation to move through the chamber, and has been briefed on where bipartisan talks stand in his chamber.
A large group of Republicans and Democrats have been in lengthy talks to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. Republicans in the group include Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Sam Johnson and John Carter of Texas and Raul Labrador of Idaho. Democrats include Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, Xavier Becerra and Zoe Lofgren of California and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.
On Fox News, Cantor said there is “a lot of interest” in D.C. in finding a way to craft legislation that would help foster immigration, while “upholding the law.”
“Weighing these two things, I think that we can come to some agreement,” Cantor said.
I think at this point, statements to the press distributed as "news" - really, recycled statements about how immigration reform is "nearly impossible", but "we can do 'somehting' "- are moot.
Let's be honest, CIR is really, primarily about a legalization program first, then national security and everything else already on the books is tertiary. It should follow this order in legislation, as CIR will be broken down over a multi-year timeline.
