I would like to respond to Eileen Dwyer’s letter “Where is immigration reform?” which appeared in the Feb. 11 Viewpoints section. Her main concern was that Congress was not taking action to solve the immigration problem.
I would like to introduce some historical facts into her opinion. The best chance to enact comprehensive reform came in 2013 during President Barack Obama’s second term, when a bipartisan group of senators dubbed the “Gang of Eight” agreed on a bill that would toughen security at the Southern border and make it harder for employers to hire migrants who had entered the U.S. illegally while providing legal status and a path to citizenship for millions of such migrants who had resided in the U.S. for many years.
The proposal passed the Senate 68 to 32 with strong bipartisan support. But because it did not enjoy the support of a majority of House Republicans, then-Speaker John Boehner refused to bring it to the floor for a vote, and the measure died. This bill had the support of all Democrats and a significant minority of Republicans: enough bipartisan support to easily pass the House. But because it did not have the support of a majority of Republicans, it was not brought up for a vote, even though it would have easily passed the House of Representatives and been signed into law by President Obama. Congress did not fail to bring about Immigration Reform — the Republican Party did.
Ten years later, in October 2023, Senate Republicans made it clear that they would not back additional aid for Ukraine without a bill that would help secure the southern border of the United States. With the blessing of both Senator Chuck Schumer, the Majority Leader, and Senator Mitch McConnell, the Minority Leader, a bipartisan team of senators began negotiations to produce a bill that enough members of both parties could accept to overwhelm objections from progressive Democrats and America-First Republicans.
The team negotiated for four months to produce such a bill.
Donald Trump, the all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee, contacted House Speaker Mike Johnson and told him he was polling far ahead of Joe Biden on the issue of who could best solve the immigration problem. Any Congressional solution to the immigration problem would hurt Trump’s election chances in November 2024.
House Speaker Johnson then stated publicly that he would not allow the Senate bill to reach the House floor for a vote, even though the Senate bill probably had enough House votes to pass and President Biden was sure to sign it. Once the House Speaker made that statement publicly, Republican senators were unwilling to run the political risk of supporting an immigration reform measure that would not become law, and the Senate bill failed.
Once again, Republicans Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, not Congress, are the people who killed “a humane solution to immigration that protected our borders and respected the dignity and humanity of all people, those here and those who desire to enter our country.”
Republican Donald Trump will also be the person who prevents any possible immigration solution for the next three years, since it takes a 66% vote in the House and Senate to override his veto of any possible Congressional action.
It is the Republican Party, not Congress, that is responsible for the fact that there has been no major immigration reform in the United States in the last 40 years.
Main Source: Brookings Commentary: “The collapse of bipartisan immigration reform: A guide for the perplexed,” William A. Galston, Feb. 8, 2024
Alan Krause
Oak Park
