House Speaker John Boehner on Friday said it
was time to address immigration policy and urged President Barack
Obama to take the lead in coming up with a plan that would look at
both improved enforcement of immigration law and the future of the
estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally.
Immigration policy, largely ignored during Obama's first four
years in office, has re-emerged as a key issue as Republicans seek
ways to rebound from the beating they got from Hispanic voters
during the presidential election. More than 70 percent of Hispanic
voters supported Obama, who has been more open than Republicans to
comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws.
"It's just time to get the job done," Boehner said at a news
conference. He said lawmakers from both parties want to resolve the
issue. "But again, on an issue this big, the president has to lead."
But Boehner would not commit to supporting legislation that might
open a pathway to citizenship - an idea that most Republicans have
strongly opposed - for those living in the country illegally.
"I'm not talking about a 3,000-page bill," he said. "What I'm
talking about is a common-sense, step-by-step approach to secure our
borders, allow us to enforce the laws and fix a broken immigration
system."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said after the election that
the vote showed that Democrats are the party of diversity, and he
plans to bring up an immigration reform bill next year. He said
Republicans would block such legislation at their own "peril."
Boehner, in an earlier interview with ABC, appeared to open the
way for discussion on immigration by saying that a comprehensive
approach is long overdue, and "I'm confident that the president,
myself, others can find the common ground to take care of this issue
once and for all."
That won praise from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., head of the
Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, who called Boehner's
recognition of the urgent need for immigration reform a
"breakthrough."
But Rep. John Fleming, R-La., also expressed concern that Boehner
was "getting ahead of House Republicans when he commits to getting a
'comprehensive approach' to immigration."
"There's been zero discussion of this issue within the
conference, and I'm urging the speaker to talk with House
Republicans before making pledges on the national news," Fleming
said.
Hispanics proved to be a critical source of support for Obama,
and Republicans have since cited their failure to attract Hispanic
voters as one reason for Obama's victory. The two candidates offered
a stark contrast during the campaign.
Obama has been supportive to immigration law overhaul and in June
announced that people brought here illegally as children who had
graduated high school or served in the military would not be
deported and would be granted work permits. GOP candidate Mitt
Romney, meanwhile, supported more hardline policies and at one point
called for "self-deportation" to shrink the number of people in the
country illegally.
