Immigration overhaul effort seems dead

[The Northerner]

Incoming Republican leaders have plans of their own for border and workplace enforcement. But Obama says he still has hope for a path to citizenship for at least some illegal residents.

When Republican lawmakers take over the House and gain strength in the Senate after the new year, a decadelong drive to overhaul the immigration system and legalize some of the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants seems all but certain to come to a halt.

When New York Republican Peter T. King takes over the House Homeland Security Committee in January, he plans to propose legislation to reverse what he calls an "obvious lack of urgency" by the Obama administration to secure the border.

Among other initiatives, King wants to see the Homeland Security Department expand a program that enlists the help of local police departments in arresting suspected illegal immigrants.

Texas Republican Lamar Smith, who will have oversight over deportations and arrests when he takes the gavel as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was an author of 1996 legislation increasing penalties against illegal immigrants.

Called the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and signed into law by President Clinton, the bill limited the discretion of U.S. immigration judges and increased the time that immigrants could be detained while awaiting a hearing.

As his first order of business, Smith plans to hold hearings about workplace enforcement and expanding the employee identification program, E-Verify, which is set to expire in 2012.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-20101227,0,1495981.story


Even though the rethugs think that immigration reform is dead most of the facts seem to indicate that an overhaul will pass overwhelmingly and there's nothing they can do to stop it! B-)