Immigration bill stalls

last updated 8 January 2015

Washington, D.C.

President Bush’s immigration reform initiative, a centerpiece of his second-term agenda, seemed all but dead last week after House Republicans announced plans to hold a summer-long series of hearings on immigration. The forums will be held in border communities in Arizona, California, and Texas, and will focus on the negative social, economic, and national-security consequences of illegal immigration. The president has called for legislation that would spell out a “path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants, but most House Republicans are sharply opposed. Senate backers of the president’s approach have scheduled hearings of their own intended to highlight the need for more guest workers, but deep divisions within the GOP make it unlikely that the two sides can forge a compromise.