New Prospects in 2014 for an Immigration Overhaul

His agenda tattered by last year’s confrontations and missteps, President Barack Obama begins 2014 clinging to the hope of winning a lasting legislative achievement: an overhaul of immigration laws.

It will require a deft and careful use of his powers, combining a public campaign in the face of protests over his administration’s record number of deportations with quiet, behind-the-scenes outreach to Congress, something seen by lawmakers and immigration advocates as a major White House weakness.

In recent weeks, both Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have sent signals that raised expectations among overhaul supporters that 2014 could still yield the first comprehensive change in immigration laws in nearly three decades. If successful, it would fulfill an Obama promise many Latinos say is long overdue.

The Senate last year passed a comprehensive, bipartisan bill that addressed border security, provided enforcement measures and offered a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally. House leaders, pressed by Tea Party conservatives, demanded a more limited and piecemeal approach.

Indicating a possible opening, Obama has stopped insisting the House pass the Senate version. And two days after calling Boehner to wish him a happy birthday in November, Obama made it clear he could accept the House’s bill-by-bill approach, with one caveat: In the end, “We’re going to have to do it all.”

Boehner, for his part, in December hired Rebecca Tallent, a former top aide to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and most recently the director of a bipartisan think tank’s immigration task force. Even opponents of a broad immigration overhaul saw Tallent’s selection as a sign legislation had suddenly become more likely. Boehner also fed speculation he would ignore Tea Party pressure, bluntly brushing back their criticism of December’s modest budget agreement.

“We believe immigration reform is going to pass,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday. “It’s going to pass, you know, and it’s up to the House to decide when. But it’s going to happen.”

Republican pollster David Winston, who regularly consults with the House leadership, said the task ahead for both sides is to distinguish the key issues they must have in the legislation from those that are merely preferences.

“The question is what are the core things that Republicans can’t move away from, what are the core things that Democrats can’t walk away from,” he said. “That’s part of the process of going back and forth.”

If successful, an immigration compromise could restore some luster to Obama’s agenda, tarnished in 2013 by failures on gun legislation, bipartisan pushback on his efforts to take military action against Syria and the disastrous enrollment start for his health care law.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the January 8th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.