New York's GOP House members patient on immigration reform

Brian Tumulty, TJN11:47 p.m. EST March 1, 2014

New York's six House Republicans support voting this year on some version of immigration legislation but are unwilling, at least for now, to criticize party leaders for failing to set a timetable.


(Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)

WASHINGTON – New York's six House Republicans support voting this year on some version of immigration legislation but are unwilling, at least for now, to criticize party leaders for failing to set a timetable.

The Senate passed a comprehensive immigration overhaul in June with a bipartisan 68-32 vote that included support from 14 Republicans.


House Speaker John Boehner recently indicated Republicans don't trust the Obama administration to enforce new immigration legislation. But Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York says the effective date of any new law could come after Obama leaves office.


Schumer, an author of the Senate bill, says House lawmakers should use a maneuver known as a discharge petition to force a vote in the Republican-controlled House. Such petitions require 218 signatures to a force a floor vote.


"There are five groups generally aligned with Republicans who are for immigration reform," Schumer said, referring to chambers of commerce, high-tech groups, the agriculture industry, Evangelical churches and the Catholic Church.


Rep. Peter King of Long Island, the state's senior congressional Republican, said Friday he favors a vote this year, but "the lay of the land" makes 2015 more likely.


King and two other New York Republicans credited Boehner for "laying the groundwork" for a vote on immigration reform.


"If it's not done this year, it definitely will be brought up next year," King said. "I think there will be pressure by the national Republican Party ... to get something done before the next presidential election."


Four other New York Republicans also said they support bringing the issue to a vote this year.


Rep. Tom Reed of Corning was unavailable for comment but he was one of four upstate House Republicans who wrote to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in September asking for passage of legislation to address agricultural labor.


New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton told reporters Tuesday an immigration overhaul with a new guest farm worker program is "most definitely our top (national) issue this year."


"We see every year that we get further and further away from having a sustainable workforce," Norton said. "We are leaving crops on the trees and vegetables on the ground. That's billions of dollars wasted that could be in our rural economy."


On Tuesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent Boehner a letter signed by 636 business groups and companies urging a vote on immigration reform this year. New York-based signatories included the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, the Empire State Potato Growers Inc., IBM Corp., the New York State Wine Grape Growers, the Northeast Dairy Producers Association and the Partnership for New York City.


"Failure to act is not an option," the chamber's letter said. "We cannot afford to be content and watch a dysfunctional immigration system work against our overall national interest. In short, immigration reform is an essential element of a jobs agenda and economic growth. It will add talent, innovation, investment, products, businesses, jobs, and dynamism to our economy."


House Republicans have not yet come up with a bill that most of them would support.


"To be frank, we don't have 218 votes in our conference for anything," Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, said referring to the number of votes needed for passage. Collins opposes the Senate bill but said a comprehensive approach is needed.


Democrats say the Senate-passed bill could easily pass the House with bipartisan support.


"We know it would have the votes if they brought that legislation to the floor," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday at her weekly news conference. "Just give us a vote. In any way the speaker wants to do it, just give us a vote."


Three House Republicans — two from California and one from Florida — have joined 196 House Democrats in cosponsoring legislation, called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, that combines much of the Senate bill with House Republican proposals for improving border security.


None of the New York Republicans is a co-sponsor and none supports using a discharge petition to force the bill to the floor.


"I honestly haven't thought about it, and it is a complicated issue," said Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Oneida County. "I am on the record multiple times to have immigration reform brought to the floor.''


Rep. Michael Grimm, R-Staten Island, dismissed a discharge petition as "a political gimmick."


"I don't think a discharge petition is the way to get major legislation accomplished," Grimm said. "But I do support immigration reform. I think our immigration system is completely broken and we have to fix it.

The status quo is default amnesty. And I don't support amnesty. I don't think it's good for economy to have a broken immigration system."


Republican Rep. Chris Gibson of Kinderhook doesn't support the Senate bill because he thinks House Republicans can come up with legislation that would be better at enforcement.


"My critique of the Senate bill is really that it doesn't solve the problem," Gibson said.


He's suggested that sponsors of theBorder Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act have it evaluated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to determine if it would be better on enforcement than the Senate bill.


"If it comes back more effective than the Senate bill, then we know we are moving in the right direction," Gibson said.


Contact Brian Tumulty at btumulty@gannett.com

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