Immigration Reform 2014: Boehner Backs Off Mockery Of House Republican Colleagues

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) played down the seriousness of comments made last week which mocked his Republican colleagues for their reluctance to consider immigration reform legislation, telling them during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that he had only been kidding around. “You tease the ones you love,” he told reporters afterward, while admitting he had gone “a little too far.” The speaker had come under fire for his impression of his colleagues in which he likened their attitude to that of a petulant child, screwing up his face and whining, “Ohhhh, don't make me do this. Ohhhh, this is too hard.”

Boehner, it seems, has a reputation as something as a kidder: Several House Republicans told CNN it wasn’t uncommon for him to give them a hard time. And the speaker himself reiterated his earlier claims that his party wasn’t to blame for the lack of a comprehensive reform, voicing a common refrain among GOP members. "Some people misunderstood what I had to say and I wanted to make sure that members understood that the biggest impediment we have in moving immigration reform is that the American people don't trust the President to enforce or implement the law that we may or may not pass," he said.

Boehner kicked off the new year with a series of gestures that sparked hope among reform advocates, hiring Rebecca Tallent, a veteran of Congressional comprehensive reform battles, to be his advisor on the subject, and presenting a list of House GOP principles soon after. But he and other House leaders backed off amid resistance from the GOP rank-and-file. A bipartisan bill passed by the Senate last June remains unconsidered in the lower chamber, where Republican leaders say they prefer a “piecemeal” approach to the issue. Meanwhile, immigrant advocates are trying to keep on the pressure. A coalition of faith, labor and civil rights groups gathered to protest deportations on May 1 in front of the White House. The New York Times reports that on Tuesday, more than 250 evangelical Christian pastors traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with GOP representatives.