For over a year, comprehensive immigration reform CIR has been languishing in the House of Representatives due to John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) fear of ideologues taking over the path to legislation and his distrust of President Barack Obama. Looking at the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives still has not passed CIR may lead one to believe that Republicans, particularly those who regularly follow the principles of the Tea Party, would be rabidly against anything having to do with immigrants getting an eventual path to citizenship. According to some surveys, this could be no further from the truth.
The Main Reasons Why the GOP is Blocking CIR
There are two main reasons why CIR does not stand a good chance of being passed in the House in the summer of 2014. One of them has to do with the House Speaker himself. While Boehner himself has stated that he would like to have some type of immigration reform legislation pass the House, he is hesitant to bring up CIR for a vote on the House floor this summer. Some House insiders feel this is because Boehner wants his own version of CIR to come before a vote while others think that the House Speaker is being obstinate and stubborn by not bringing support behind the CIR that recently passed the Senate.
The second has to do with a representative named Peter King (R-New York). Experts claim that Rep. King could kill CIR’s chances in the House due to his harsh stances on immigration reform, which includes mass deportations of families, workers, and even young DREAMers (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) who arrived in the United States when they were children. Rep. King’s alarming stances come into play due to the Republican Party’s recent move to make King their leader on immigration reform legislation.
Conservative Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
If it were up to Boehner and King, either CIR would fall off of the map entirely, or a watered down version of immigration reform would come to light. Before one thinks that King and Boehner are speaking for the entire Republican Party, think again: According to this poll, 69 percent of Tea Party voters, and 71 percent of conservative Republicans, want some version of CIR to be passed this year.
What do these statistics mean? It definitely means that many House Republicans are not thinking like House Speaker Boehner and Representative King. This is happening even as House Republicans are ostensibly throwing their support behind a leader who would have millions of immigrants deported if he had his way. Some insiders in the House of Representatives are even speculating that Boehner is keeping CIR from being brought to a vote because he wants to protect Republicans from mid-term elections. This reason might make sense when you consider the statistics that were just presented in this article. In other words, House Speaker Boehner and Rep. King are not even acting in the best interests of their own constituents, many of whom want CIR passed. Then there are the millions of immigrants, almost all of whom contribute positively to this country’s economy. By dawdling on this piece of important legislation, Boehner and King are actively dismissing the needs of some of our most hard working residents.
Boehner, King and CIR
As stated previously, House Speaker Boehner is afraid of liberal ideologues hijacking the meaning and spirit of CIR and molding it to their own purposes. Most House insiders feel that other, more important reasons are at stake. For example, Boehner has stated that he wants to approach CIR as a step-by-step process that will be addressed in several, separate pieces of legislation that allegedly waters down the original intent of comprehensive immigration reform. Then there’s President Obama, whom insiders state is a prime reason that Boehner is stalling CIR in the House.
According to a few insiders in the House of Representatives, House Speaker Boehner does not trust President Obama to stick to the letter and the law of CIR. One may come to wonder if House Speaker Boehner considers President Obama to be one of those dreaded ideologues that will supposedly mess everything up if they get their hands on this legislation. But regardless of House Speaker Boehner’s view of President Obama, the languished state of CIR in the U.S. House of Representatives could spell trouble for millions of immigrants who are looking for a legal path to citizenship.
Why CIR Needs to Be Passed Immediately
Immigrants who need a legal path to citizenship can not just wait around for CIR to come to fruition in the House. No one knows when, or if, it will ever pass the House and go to President Obama’s desk to be signed into law. If you are an immigrant who needs to become a citizen, you have several other paths available to you, some of which include visas.
Two visas you might be eligible for are the H-1B visa and for a limited few, the EB-5 visa. The H1-B visa allows immigrants who hold a bachelor’s degree from a school in the United States to get a path to eventual citizenship. The EB-5 visa allows foreign investors who commit at least $500,000 to an American company to apply for U.S. citizenship for themselves and all unmarried family members under the age of 21.
Whichever visa you decide to apply for, you will need expert legal advice from an experienced attorney that will guide you through what can often be a labyrinthine process. Since there are way more immigrants who need these types of legal services than there are attorneys to serve them, let an attorney like Beeraj Patel, Esq. help you through this exhausting and trying time. When you let a good immigration attorney like the ones at the Pride Immigration Law Firm PLLC represent you, you can work with caring, intelligent professionals who know the ins and outs of the immigration system and who care about the people that have to go through it.
Beeraj Patel, Esq.
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