Let’s look at the issues

This summer the U.S. Senate passed a bill that will enact comprehensive immigration reform. It isn’t a perfect bill, but it is at least a step in the right direction. It would relieve the terrible stress suffered by many undocumented workers who fear that they or family members will be deported. It would provide a somewhat cumbersome but nevertheless navigable path to U.S. citizenship for the 11 million undocumented workers in the U.S. and it would open doors of opportunity for them.

But even with all the promise offered by the Senate’s bill on immigration reform it has no chance of becoming law this year. That’s because of one person, just one single person. It’s because John Boehner refuses to bring the bill to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. While that fact is disheartening enough, it is even worse when one realizes that if he did bring it to the floor for a vote it would receive enough votes to pass. It is clear that with all Democrats in the House of Representatives committed to immigration reform only about 20 Republican House members would be needed to pass this bill. Immigration reform advocates say they have the votes. And that is probably why Boehner won’t bring it up for a vote: He’s afraid it will pass.

Only a year ago this same John Boehner publicly pledged to pass immigration reform. But last year was an election year, and so he probably thought such an insincere comment would help get some votes for the GOP.

It is simply astounding to find that Boehner will not do anything in the area of immigration reform. The one immigration bill he did bring to the floor for a vote this year would have deported those young undocumented who were brought here by their parents and have lived their entire lives in the U.S. Since the DREAM Act would allow these exact same young people to stay in the U.S., the only country most of them have known their entire lives, some wags called Boehner’s bill to deport them the nightmare act. We should also note that Boehner’s bill had no chance of becoming law, since the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate would never pass it. In addition, President Obama preempted any effort to deport DREAM Act eligible young people by issuing an executive order allowing them to stay in the U.S. under certain conditions.

One of the most glaring aspects of House Republicans’ behavior under Boehner’s so-called leadership is that they have no proposals of their own to address pressing issues like immigration, health care and unemployment. They have relentlessly criticized President Obama’s handling of the economy, but at the same time they refused to pass his jobs program bill. What did they offer in its place? Nothing.

The same thing happened with health care. They have ceaselessly attacked the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) since its enactment and have even voted 41 times to repeal it. What have they proposed in place of this health care plan? Nothing.

Now, the same thing is happening with immigration. They publicly agree that something needs to be done in the area of immigration reform but they will do nothing to move along the Senate’s recently passed bill.

When asked what House Republicans are offering to replace the Senate bill, Boehner is unable to answer.

As we all know, there is a minority of House Republicans that shut down the federal government and came close to having the U.S. default on its debt. This minority is also responsible for stopping the House from voting on immigration reform. They pressure Boehner constantly, and he doesn’t seem to have the backbone to stand up to them. What kind of leadership is this, to let important legislation lag because of a minority of Tea Party darlings?

There are more than 11 million aspiring citizens who love this country and call it home. In many cases, they have children who have known no other mother country but this one. Like the millions of immigrants who preceded them, they came to the U.S. for freedom and for the opportunity to provide a better life for their children. These immigrant families work hard, they pay their taxes and they contribute mightily to their communities and to the U.S. economy in general. They deserve so much better that the current malfunctioning and retaliatory immigration system that leaves them living in the shadows, fearing deportation and tearing families from each other. They deserve better than a House leader like John Boehner, who does nothing to help them, and they deserve better than a small minority in Congress that is standing in the way of the immigration reform our country so sorely needs.