Immigration Reform 2014: Clash In Conservative House Pits House Leaders, Business Lobby Against Hardliners

In a letter dated Jan. 8, a dozen conservative lawmakers in the House wrote to President Obama, rejecting a comprehensive immigration reform bill which was passed by the Senate in June but has since stalled in the House. The lawmakers accused the president of supporting a bill which would “permanently displace American workers” by boosting visas for foreign-born guest workers and permanent residents. But as they and other hardliners in the House of Representatives try to keep the focus of their legislative efforts on repealing the Affordable Care Act, House GOP leaders and lobbyists from the business community signal their determination to pass an immigration overhaul in 2014.

The Washington Post reports that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told members of that chamber’s Republican rank-and-file on Wednesday morning that he and other GOP leaders would be releasing an outline of party principles on immigration reform. The announcement comes a little over a month after Boehner hired Rebecca Tallent -- former director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center and one-time staffer with Sen. John McCain during his 2006-2007 push for comprehensive reform -- as an aide. Those gestures could mean that Boehner, who has often struggled to calibrate the anti-overhaul stance of his party’s hardliners with what many in the GOP establishment see as the party’s need to appeal to a growing Hispanic population, intends to introduce legislation on the issue this year.

The Associated Press reports that the US Chamber of Commerce, the biggest business lobby in the country, is also looking to step up its efforts in support of an overhaul. Tom Donohue, the Chamber’s president, said during his annual “State of American Business” address on Wednesday that the chamber was “determined to make 2014 the year that immigration reform is finally enacted." He also said the chamber planned to deepen its involvement in the 2014 primaries, during which it would support what the AP described as “pro-business candidates who are willing to work within the legislative system” instead of candidates who would seek to, as Donohue, put it, “burn down the town."