Key House Democrat: Immigration Plan Won't Progress Without GOP Support

Huffington Post

House Democrats insisted on Friday that their plan to introduce a version of the Senate-passed comprehensive immigration bill was an important step forward for the reform movement -- even though they admitted it was unlikely to bring on many Republican members, at least initially.

But one key member, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), cautioned that introducing legislation isn't as important as convincing the GOP leadership to allow a vote on it.

"I think it's meant to rally Democrats, which is fine, but whether or not it's introduced, I don't think is going to be a material factor in terms of immigration reform moving forward," the ranking member of the House immigration subcommittee said, referring to the Democrats' plan.

House Democrats may release a bill that would combine the bipartisan legislation passed by the Senate in June with a separate border proposal approved by the House Homeland Security Committee. The idea is to propose something with support from both parties in the House, but so far, it's not clear whether any GOP members will sign on to the Democrats' proposal.

The new strategy is being spearheaded by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, with assistance from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), one of the top proponents of the reform and a Hispanic Caucus member, said Friday that it is meant to be a rallying point for Democrats.

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