Free Republic

House Republicans insisted Sunday that they plan to change key elements of the Senate-passed immigration bill, signaling a protracted and rocky battle ahead despite one Democrat's pronouncement that in the end the House will cave and pass the Senate bill anyway. Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who is playing a major role in the chamber's consideration of immigration policy, on Sunday addressed what is perhaps at the heart of the impasse. He said the House, which is drafting its own plan, cannot agree to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Rather, he wants...

Paul Ryan, the Republican congressman and former vice-presidential candidate best known for his war on spending, is emerging as his party's leading champion of immigration reform in the U.S. House of Representatives. With Senate passage of a sweeping immigration bill imminent, Ryan has been meeting with House conservatives to persuade them that reform of the immigration system, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, is an economic necessity and critical to fixing the nation's fiscal problems. Ryan, a potential 2016 presidential contender, sees himself as a "bridge builder" between immigration advocacy groups and reluctant Republicans, he said in an...

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples today released the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate’s passage of the ‘Gang of Eight’ immigration bill. "In the 80’s, we had parachute pants, big hair and the 1986 amnesty law. Let us never repeat those mistakes. “Passing a law through the U.S. Senate that has no chance of passing through the U.S. House is about as useful as a plate with no food. I am pro-jobs, pro-security, pro-family and pro-legal immigration. Unfortunately, this bill is pro-status quo. “This legislation, with its flawed and unaccountable border security measures, arbitrarily small caps on visas, and a...

John Boehner said he expects an overhaul of immigration rules to become law by the end of the year, but that the Senate's version "doesn't go far enough" to secure the U.S. border with Mexico or enforce the proposed new system. "I've got real concerns about the Senate bill, especially in the area of border security and internal enforcement of the system. I'm concerned that it doesn't go far enough." Boehner added that reforming the nation's immigration system was his top legislative priority this year.

Both the process and the content of the current immigration bill violate America’s core principles and legacy of immigration, according to Heritage President Jim DeMint. “This whole process is not really American, to take a few people and go behind closed doors and then come out and suddenly have it on the floor of the Senate for debate,” said DeMint on “The Mike Huckabee Show” earlier this week. (Listen here) “Instead of incomprehensible, comprehensive bills that are thousands of pages, we need to take a step-by-step approach so people know what we’re doing, and with immigration, the obvious priority is...