On immigration reform, or the lack thereof, Speaker Boehner only has himself to blame.
Byron York today has this piece in the Washington Examiner, breaking down Boehner’s struggle to pass immigration reform while the Steve King caucus in the House opposes it. Presumably, that’s why Boehner is sending such mixed messages, telling donors that he is “hellbent on getting [immigration reform] done this year” while appearing to assure his caucus that legislation isn’t going anywhere. As Byron York described the House GOP’s certainty on inaction:
Boehner has assured members who oppose comprehensive immigration reform that nothing will be done on the issue until the Obama administration “can be trusted to enforce our laws.” Given the average GOP Congressman’s view of Barack Obama, that means “never.” That’s certainly how many members interpreted the speaker’s words.
York reveals the truth behind GOP’s line about trusting Obama, it means “nothing will be done.”
Unfortunately for Boehner, 2016 is just around the corner and breaking news implies that executive action from President Obama on the issue is imminent. But, John Boehner and the House GOP have nothing to show Latino voters besides a number of anti-immigrant votes to defund DACA and deport DREAMers.
As Markos at Daily Kos points out today, it could be easy for Boehner to pass reform if he wanted to. He has the votes. He just needs to bring real immigration reform legislation to the floor, rather than continuing to let Steve King run the show.
