With Senate passage late last month of the Border Security,
Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, the focus of the
immigration reform effort has shifted to the House of Representatives. While some supporters of reform called
for the House to take up the Senate bill and pass it swiftly, that was never
really a plausible option. The House
is a coequal chamber of Congress and it would consider the immigration issue in
its own way. The hope is that the
path the House takes will ultimately result in legislation that can be signed
into law by the President.
This week, House Republicans convened a conference meeting
to consider ways to deal with immigration reform. While the meeting was more of an airing of opinions and did
not result in any consensus, news
reports tended to portray the meeting in a pessimistic light as members
voiced support for Speaker Boehner’s position of not taking up the Senate bill
and instead taking a piecemeal approach of considering separate components of
immigration reform in individual bills.
This may signify a bleak outlook for the “swift House passage of the
Senate bill” scenario hoped for by some, but not necessarily for the reform effort
itself. House Republican leaders
acknowledged the need to address the issue, just in their own way and on their
own timetable. Continued
discussion and engagement by House Republicans on immigration reform may yet
lead to a House version of reform that can be put up beside the Senate bill in
a conference committee.
In a bicameral system with each chamber controlled by
opposing parties, it is unsurprising that the House would assert its privileges
and go its own way. The process in
the House looks likely to be longer and more arduous than what was done in the
Senate. This is not cause for
complete despair but simply a reality check reminding us of how difficult this
issue is (there is a reason comprehensive reform has not happened since 1986). The ultimate goal is to have an
immigration reform bill that at long last addresses the broken skilled
immigration system and enables the U.S. technology industry to have access to
skilled foreign workers and entrepreneurs. Whatever path the House decides to take, we need that path to
lead to such a bill being signed into law.
