Another shot: Congressional Hispanic Caucus drafts new bill on immigration reform

Published April 16, 2015
EFE

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is drafting a new immigration reform bill that lawmakers could start debating within the coming months, the chair of the caucus, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), said Thursday.

At a meeting with reporters, including Efe, Sanchez said that the members of the caucus feel a responsibility as representatives of the Latino community to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.

She said Hispanic lawmakers are in the first phase of preparing the draft after the bill presented in the House of Representatives last year was never submitted for a vote.

"We had enough votes to (get it passed), but the speaker of the House (Republican John Boehner) had no intention of submitting it to a vote," said the legislator.

The bill contained the same elements as the bipartisan immigration reform measure already passed by the Senate.

When asked about the possibility that Republican lawmakers might support the new bill, Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego emphasized that the GOP 2016 presidential primaries "will heat up" the immigration issue and will make any progress difficult.

Gallego insisted that besides continuing to exert pressure for reform, he and his colleagues in the Hispanic Caucus want to protect the executive action measures taken by President Barack Obama that would prevent the deportation of more than five million undocumented immigrants.

"We want to protect DACA and DAPA," he added, saying that, if the two programs continue, "it will be easier" to move forward on comprehensive reform to be able to "bring out of the shadows" the other more than five million undocumented people who would not be covered by those measures.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, and Deferred Action for Parents of Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents, known as DAPA, are currently suspended on the order of a federal judge in Texas.

The judge issued that injunction after agreeing to hear a lawsuit filed by the governments of the 26 Republican-led states which claims that the president exceeded his constitutional authority.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday will begin its hearings on the appeal presented by the White House against the injunction.

The case may ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The executive orders were issued by the president last November due to the inability of Congress to approve an immigration reform package that would clear the way to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants who are estimated to live in this country.

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