September 17, 2013

Democrats’ patience on immigration reform is wearing thin.

President Obama, congressional Democrats and activists have given Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) some room to maneuver on the thorny issue, but they are now saying that the clock is ticking.

Reform proponents are growing anxious nearly three months after the Senate cleared a bipartisan measure. While the House Judiciary Committee has passed narrow bills that are largely non-controversial within the GOP Conference, it remains to be seen if Boehner will seek a floor vote on any of them. Read more >

September 13, 2013

With immigration legislation stalled in Congress, advocates are intensifying pressure on the Obama administration to act unilaterally to stop deportations or grant legal status to some of the 11 million people now living in the U.S. illegally.

Activists are stepping up acts of civil disobedience like one last month in Phoenix, where they blocked a bus full of immigrant detainees. And labor leaders plan to press the issue with a top White House official in an upcoming meeting. Read more >

September 13, 2013

When the US congress reconvenes this fall, it is expected to resume deliberations on immigration reform legislation. The House will continue to debate S.744, the bill that was passed by the Senate in June and that pundits have referred to as the "most monumental overhaul" of US immigration laws in a generation. Read more >

September 12, 2013

Cantor noted that the House “may begin considering” this fall the five bills passed in various committees. No one in the majority leader's office was available for a comment Wednesday evening on when exactly the bills will be brought to the floor. “Before we consider any other reforms, it is important that we pass legislation securing our borders and providing enforcement mechanisms to our law enforcement officials,” the memo read. Read more >

September 12, 2013

WASHINGTON — More than 100 women were arrested on Capitol Hill on Thursday after they blocked a busy intersection to press the House of Representatives to move on immigration legislation in a protest that rallied national women’s groups to the cause. Read more >

September 11, 2013

The drive to reform the nation’s immigration laws may be stalled in Congress, but the national debate it has inspired is at least partly responsible for a spike in new laws passed in state legislatures around the country.

Through the end of June, 43 states and the District of Columbia had passed a total of 377 laws and resolutions related to immigration, according to a report to be issued Wednesday by the National Conference of State Legislators’ Immigration Policy Project. That’s an 83 percent increase from the first half of 2012. Read more >