Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The AP headline in the The Arizona Republic and Arizona Daily Star this morning makes it clear: House conservatives rule out immigration this year:
Conservative Republicans on Wednesday ruled out any immigration legislation in the House this year, insisting that the GOP should wait until next year when the party might also control the Senate.
House GOP leaders unveiled their broad immigration principles last week that gave hope to advocates and the Obama administration that the first changes in the nation’s laws in three decades might happen in the coming months.
Immigration legislation is one of the top priorities for Obama’s second term.
But several of the conservatives were adamant that the House should do nothing on the issue this year, a midterm election year when the GOP is angling to gain six seats in the Senate and seize majority control. Democrats currently have a 55-45 advantage but are defending more seats, including ones in Republican-leaning states.
“I think it’s a mistake for us to have an internal battle in the Republican Party this year about immigration reform,” Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, told reporters at a gathering of conservatives. “I think when we take back the Senate in 2014 one of the first things we should do next year after we do certain economic issues, I think we should address the immigration issue.”
Labrador’s comments were noteworthy as he was one of eight House members working on bipartisan immigration legislation last year. He later abandoned the negotiations.
“This is not an issue that’s ready for prime time to move legislatively,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who said Republicans should use the principles to begin a dialogue with Hispanics.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said the House should focus on the four bills dealing with security that the Judiciary Committee approved last summer. Absent any action on those bills, Jordan said it would be tough to do any immigration legislation this year.
At Thursday's press conference, the "Worst. Speaker. Ever.," Weeper of the House John Boehner, told the press that immigration reform is not going to happen this year, and then had the audacity to assert the pathetic GOPropaganda talking point that it is all Obama's fault because Tea-Publicans can't trust him. So the paranoid delusions of wingnuts suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome have claimed yet another victim: comprehensive immigration reform.
Think Progress reports, Boehner Won’t Advance Immigration Reform Until Republicans Can Trust Obama: "During a 12-minute press conference on Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said that House Republicans would not move immigration reform forward until they restore their trust in the President."
"Boehner and other House Republicans have little reason to doubt Obama’s commitment to enforcing immigration laws. The Obama administration has deported nearly two million immigrants, “illegal entries are at a 40-year low,” and there are more “boots on the ground” at the border than there have ever been in history."
The GOP is not serious about immigration reform. The GOP never had any serious intention of enacting comprehensive immigration reform. If you want comprehensive immigration reform, John Boehner has to go as Speaker. And the only way to do that is to elect more Democrats to Congress. This country cannot afford to continue this insanity of deranged Tea-Publicans. Kick 'em all out!