Immigration Campaign Passes By Some in GOP

BEL AIR, Md. (AP) —

Immigration advocates are swarming the country this month, trying to persuade House Republicans to pass a comprehensive overhaul. It was hard to tell at the town-hall meeting that second-term Republican Rep. Andy Harris held recently in this town northeast of Baltimore.

The overflow crowd in the board of commissioners meeting room was overwhelmingly white and older, and booed loudly when one audience member asked Harris to support a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

Loud applause followed as Harris shot the idea down, calling it “a nonstarter” that’s “not going anywhere fast” in the House.

“The bottom line is there are plenty of immigration laws on the books,” Harris said. “The House is in no rush to take up immigration.”

Harris, a 56-year-old physician and the son of Eastern European immigrants, is in a safe GOP district with few Latino voters, and he’s not on target lists drawn up by immigration proponents. So it’s no surprise that advocates wouldn’t be out in force at his events.

Yet his position is far from unique.

With immigration legislation stuck in limbo in the House, that reality raises the question of how successful advocates can be in reaching their goal for this month: generating enough momentum to propel Congress to act when lawmakers return to Washington in September.

A week into lawmakers’ summer recess, advocates are trumpeting comments from a few Republicans, including Daniel Webster of Florida, Aaron Schock of Illinois and Dave Reichert of Washington, indicating qualified support for eventual citizenship for those in the country illegally.

It’s unclear whether such developments are limited to a small number of lawmakers, including some in districts with changing demographics or a more moderate electorate, or whether they become widespread enough to compel House Republicans to act on a far-reaching package of immigration bills that could be merged with a Senate-passed measure and sent to President Obama.

The answer may determine the way forward in Congress for immigration legislation, and whether Obama will achieve one of his chief second-term priorities.

For now, immigration legislation is stalled following Senate passage in June of a comprehensive bill with billions for border security, changes to visa programs and a new focus on workplace enforcement, plus eventual access to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants already in the country illegally.

House Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the Senate bill. Instead of a single big bill, they prefer a step-by-step approach, beginning with border security.

But any action even on that is not expected until October at the earliest because Congress has only nine legislative days in September and they’re expected to be devoted to fiscal issues. So far, no House committee has advanced legislation that would offer a path to citizenship to anyone here illegally.

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