Doubts Grow About GOP Passing Immigration Reform
Published at
Vladone/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Judging by comments made last week by House Speaker John Boehner, Republicans are probably not going to move forward on an immigration reform bill in 2014.
Since this is a mid-term election year, the general consensus is that a debate about the issue might divide the party among those leaning toward some revisions in the current law and those opposed to doing anything, especially putting millions of undocumented immigrants on the path to citizenship.
Asked about the GOP reticence about the issue in light of previous statements that a bill won’t pass this year, Oklahoma Republican Congressman Tom Cole told ABC’s This Week Sunday, “Step by step progress is still out there, whether or not, Democrats want to work that way I think is unclear but you could clearly get a border security bill through. I think you could get HB1B visas through.”
However, Alabama Congresswoman Martha Roby may be speaking for the majority of Republicans who think the election year focus should stay on criticizing President Obama’s health care law, which polls show a majority of Americans oppose.
Asked why the GOP has suddenly gotten gun-shy on pushing for immigration reform, Minnesota Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison told This Week, “The speaker got a lot of push back from somebody within his caucus who he has to listen to and so he changed course. I don’t think it’s political courage and I was really disappointed.”
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio