Prospects of Immigration Reform Continue to Brighten
Posted at 10:15 a.m. on March 20
As lawmakers continue to hammer out comprehensive immigration reform legislation, CNN reports that bipartisan groups in the House and Senate are nearing deals that will likely be announced when Congress returns from recess in the second week of April.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “told reporters that the bipartisan House group working on legislation is ‘essentially in agreement’ on a plan… The number two House Democrat also signaled the bipartisan talks are close to a deal that would include a pathway to citizenship… House Republican leaders are stepping up efforts to educate rank and file Republicans about immigration…trying to lay the ground work with conservatives to keep them from blowing up any bipartisan bill.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times looks at the implications of a recent speech by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on immigration reform, in which he backed legal status for illegal immigrants without mentioning a “path to citizenship.”
“Some Republicans, including Mr. Paul, remain wary of any plan that would move illegal immigrants ahead of those who are in the country legally when it comes to getting full citizenship… But the political climate has moderated, and many Republicans are being forced to accept, if not outright embrace, some form of legalization for the illegal immigrants already in the country.”
