This week in Immigration

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On Wednesday, House Speaker Boehner repeated his long-standing opposition to the Senate-passed immigration bill and his pledge the House would never vote on it.  The Senate “Gang of Eight” bill, passed with bipartisan support in the upper chamber this summer, would allow for a lengthy path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants – something that many Republicans decry as “amnesty". Republican lawmakers have instead been working on smaller pieces of legislation that would address border security, employment verification, and possibly a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Boehner refused to say Wednesday whether he plans to bring any of those measures to a vote before the end of the year. A series of targeted immigration bills have passed the House Judiciary Committee - mostly focused on border security and enforcement - but GOP leaders have not scheduled any floor votes on any of them. Given that the House is in session 15 days between now and the end of the year, there is probably not enough time left this year for the House to take up any of them. Boehner and other Republicans nevertheless maintain that whether taken up in December or after the first of the year, something will come out of the House. Worse, if something were not done early next year, before GOP primaries heat up reform could possibly be flat lined for the foreseeable future. "I think a comprehensive approach is long overdue. And I’m confident that the president, myself, others can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all," Boehner said in an interview with ABC News the week after the 2012 presidential election, yet with his statements on Wednesday his intentions seem to be quite contrary.




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