Lawmakers and advocates on both sides of the issue say immigration reform “is effectively dead and unlikely to be revived until after President Obama leaves office,” said the Washington Post. One year after the Senate passed a comprehensive reform, time has run out in the House for the moribund issue due to a combination of friction between Obama and congressional Republicans and Tea Party opposition to action, says the Post. The wave of child migrants also is a factor.
It would be the second setback for immigration reform since 2007. “The president is likely to face a shift in tactics among immigrant advocates, who will renew demands that he use his executive powers to further stem deportations,” said the Post. Immigration reform was a priority for farm groups and food processors, who say it is hard to recruit a legal workforce.
Says Politico, “Immigration reform’s slow but steady failure exposes how an ideologically diverse and powerful network of supporters couldn’t bend the one group that mattered: House Republicans. Proponents turned their attention late to the House because of a longer-than-expected Senate debate, and once they did, the GOP’s political will had faded and hard-liners made inroads with newer lawmakers that were difficult to reverse, according to interviews with several dozen key participants on both sides of the battle.”