Comprehensive Immigration Reform Likely to Pass in Senate, Fate in House Unclear

Contributed by Aaron Hall, Senior Attorney
 
After an amendment to the immigration reform bill which adds over 40 billion dollars in new border security spending, including a near-doubling of border security agents, new drones, hundreds of miles of fencing, and a 1,500 mile long alligator moat (OK, there’s no alligator moat), the Senate seems poised to pass the proposed reform with 60 to 70 votes.  While the thousands of new agents, fencing, and drones threaten to turn border communities into militarized zones, it is apparently the price that needed to be paid to get the bill through the Senate with strong bipartisan support.

Assuming passage by the Senate, the attention would then turn to the House of Representatives, where some are predicting that the bill is “dead on arrival.”  Whether the bill passes the House of Representatives will likely hinge on whether Speaker of the House John Boehner decides to allow a vote on the bill despite a majority of House Republicans being opposed to the bill.  Most experts think that it will be late summer or fall before we know for sure whether comprehensive immigration reform can pass both houses and make it to the president’s desk.

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