Speaker of the House John Boehner reiterated today what members of various House committees have already said — that the House will pass its own piecemeal legislation rather than comprehensive immigration reform.
The House remains committed to fixing our broken immigration system, but we will not simply take up and accept the bill that is emerging in the Senate if it passes. Rather, through regular order, the House will work its will and produce its own legislation.
And this is why immigration reform may not pass this year or at all.
Passage of immigration reform in the Senate seems imminent at this point unless it is filibustered, but the House of Representatives is a different animal which John Boeher himself has little control over.
It would be safe to assume that any legislation that emerges from the House would be unacceptable to Senate Democrats and possibly even some Senate Republicans. The heinous amendments that will be voted down in various Senate committees where Democrats remain in control will not be voted down in the House where Republican-controlled committees are occupied by the likes of Louie Gohmert and Steve King.