
Moreover, opponents of the Gang of Eight bill are not convinced that Democratic acquiescence to a piecemeal approach in any way dampens the prospects that Congress will ultimately pass some form of comprehensive immigration reform. In fact, they have been trying for weeks, without success, to get a commitment from House leadership not to enter into a conference committee with the Senate bill.
Some conservatives fear that even if the House approves a single piece of immigration legislation, it could be used as a vehicle to enter a conference committee, the end result of which could be a comprehensive package resembling the Gang of Eight plan. For example, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has already incorporated a border-security bill sponsored by Representatives Mike McCaul (R., Texas) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas), and unanimously approved by the judiciary committee, into House Democrats’ version of the Gang of Eight bill. Meanwhile, immigration activists have signaled a willingness to accept a final package that stops short of offering citizenship to all illegal immigrants, meaning that GOP legislation currently in the works, such as the KIDS Act, which would offer citizenship to younger immigrants brought to the country as children, could serve as the basis for a deal.
Yet the message from House leadership, which says it considers immigration reform a “priority,” remains muddled, with reports that the House will not consider immigration-reform legislation before the end of the year, and statements by Republican congressmen such as Trent Franks (R., Ariz.) and Jeff Denham (R., Calif.) to the opposite effect.
Republicans are increasingly distrustful of the Obama administration, and their skepticism of a comprehensive bill has only been enhanced by the disastrous rollout of the president’s health-care overhaul. But even within their own party, reform skeptics will face considerable pressure from deep-pocketed interest groups to act on immigration, and soon.
Representative Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.), who has drawn criticism from Gang of Eight opponents, recently spoke to the apprehensions many conservatives have about immigration reform. In an interview with Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy, he said that “it is better to not produce any bill than to produce a bad bill, and Obamacare should be the lesson for that.”
— Andrew Stiles is a political reporter for National Review Online.