The Senate Bill S.744 has stalled in the House of Representatives -- but all hope is not lost yet.

Post date: Jul 16, 2013 7:26:32 PM

We, here at Drew Law Office, have not been ignoring the fact that Comprehensive Immigration Reform passed the US Senate last month. However, we have been down this road before; and rather than create a frenzy we thought we would keep calm and carry on until the promise of reform gets a little closer to reality.

The House of Representatives is controlled by the Republican majority, which in tern is largely controlled by its large contingent of very conservative members and Tea Party affiliates many of whom entered the Congress in 2010 or 2012. Getting an agreement on Immigration Reform that is anything more than a strengthen the borders and build more prison beds is going to be a hard sell to a large number of House members from deep red districts.

The GOP political machine, however, largely wants to put immigration reform off the table as a campaign issue for 2014 and 2016. Winning House seats in gerrymandered districts is one thing -- winning statewide Senate elections and Presidential elections is another. Groups like the US Chamber of Commerce and Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform are pro-reform, as are some Evangelical Ministries and the Catholic Church. Many commentators have already written off getting immigration reform through the House. While I have my doubts, I still have some optimism that the work will get done because it has to be done this time.

I haven't written about the reform bills passage until now because I didn't want to give a false impression that a "new law" had passed and that things were about to change any minute. I will be sure to note here what the ultimate fate (good or bad) of immigration reform is for this year as soon as it is decided.