Thread: Immigration Overhaul Likely to Remain Stalled in 2011

Immigration Overhaul Likely to Remain Stalled in 2011

Congressional Quarterly Today
November 7, 2010
By Theo Emery, CQ Staff

With the House in GOP hands, prospects for broad immigration legislation in the 112th Congress appear all but dead, with newly empowered Republicans expected to press for increased border security and enforcement actions targeted at undocumented immigrants in the workplace.

But with Democrats still in control in the Senate and neither party commanding a 60-vote supermajority, immigration bills of any scope will almost certainly remain mired in gridlock. Fierce partisanship and a sour economy are also likely to sap the public's appetite for providing a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants or for revamping the country's guest worker program.

GOP leaders in the House are expected to make Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Steve King, R-Iowa, head of the immigration subcommittee. Both are expected to press for legislation that further beefs up border enforcement, though getting such legislation through the polarized Senate will be difficult.

House hearings on the Department of Homeland Security, which Republicans have accused of lax enforcement of immigration laws, may be in the offing. And legislation seeking revocation of citizenship for U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants could also get an airing.

Frank Sharry, director of America's Voice, a group that has lobbied for an immigration overhaul, predicted "a blizzard of hearings and bills" under Smith and King aimed at deporting undocumented immigrants.

While GOP leaders in the House might want to dial back on get-tough immigration legislation because of the 2012 presidential election, Sharry said, "I presume they'll say, 'go ahead, pass some pretty tough laws,'" much as House Republicans did in 2006.

Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said in the liberal-leaning Huffington Post in October the election's outcome will determine "whether we get sensible immigration reform quickly or have to wait several more years."

"When it comes down to it, putting people like Smith-Boehner-King [Lamar Smith, John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Steve King] at the helm of national immigration policy is a guarantee of more gridlock and chaos," he said.

Smith called Gutierrez's complaints "both ignorant and insulting" in an op-ed response in The Hill newspaper. "Republicans support the rule of law because we believe it is important to have a fair and just government. We believe that immigrants who want to come to the United States and pursue the American dream should do so legally," he wrote.

Not all lawmakers see the ascendent GOP as standing in the way of comprehensive legislation.

Jeff Flake of Arizona, who cosponsored immigration legislation in the past, mused before the election that "only Nixon could go to China. Maybe only Republicans can do real immigration reform."

"It's tough in any year. It's impossible during an election year, so maybe moving it until next year, we have a better chance," he said.

Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also suggested immigration legislation might fare better under a Republican-controlled House, saying the issue provides "a good opportunity for Republicans to use their new power to solve a vexing problem for the country."

"We all agree on better border security, so I would suggest the House focus on securing the border very soon after they get in charge, pass a very strong border security law, give it a little time to get it into effect, then move to the other parts of the problem," Graham said.

Some Democrats see a lame-duck session as an opportunity to push through an incremental bill (S 3827), The Dream Act, aimed at giving conditional legal status to the children of illegal immigrants if they go to college or join the military.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tried to hitch that legislation to a defense authorization bill in September, but failed to muster votes to cut off debate and allow the defense bill to advance.

Reid said in a Univision interview on Sunday that he hoped to pass the bill before January.

Following his hard-fought re-election, his spokesman Jim Manley said the bill remained a possibility for action in the lame duck.

But that will also be a tough sell, with few, if any lawmakers expected to budge from their earlier positions.

The same goes for comprehensive immigration legislation (S 3932) that Robert Menendez, D-N.J., filed on Sept. 29th, the last day of the regular session.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/En ... 6&start=12

If the House passes for example the SAVE act, do these elite DC clowns really think the Senate will ignore 50 million Americans calling them for passage?

I don't think so, although when it gets to Obama that could be a different story, he hates Americans and could care less what happens to us.

Robert Menendez, Luis Guttierass, and Harry Reid should all sale Dyson Vacuums cause they"SUCK"

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article-5825--0-0.html

The politicians in Congress do not get it. We have to enforce current immigration laws. Illegals do not obey laws. They enter without visas or overstay. We must not reward illegal behavior. The only solution here is enforcement. Do you get it (politicians in Congress)? We Americans will never accept amensty for illegals.

They get it! They are just stalling giving them more time to have more anchor babies.

Maybe what we need is to have inauguration of new Congress rescheduled to just two weeks after the election. This would help eliminate any lame duck bills being enacted into law, and those lame duck reps and senators couldn't just say the heck with it I'm going to vote any way I please since I won't be here much longer anyway.