Will Immigration Reform Pass In 2014? Rank-And-File House GOP Could Decide Action This Year

With the recent hire of an experienced immigration advisor and the upcoming release of a “statement of principles” on what House Republicans will push for in immigration reform bills, House Speaker John Boehner has made it clear he wants the Republican majority in the chamber over which he presides to pass legislation on the issue this year. But he has said he won’t introduce bills unless they have the support of the majority of his party’s members in the House -- 117 of the 233 Republican representatives. The Hill reported on Sunday that a handful of swing votes in the party could very well determine the fate of legislation.

The site identifies five representatives -- Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, Justin Amash of Michigan, Renee Ellmers of North Carolina, and Steve Scalise of Louisiana -- as potential swing votes in the inter-GOP fight. And in an interview, Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, told the site Reps. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina and Steve Pearce of New Mexico could also be important swing votes.

Those representatives represent different strains of Tea Party thought, from libertarians like Amash to the 16 lawmakers who sent a letter to the president this month registering their opposition to the liberalization of visa programs. While the House GOP leadership are likely looking to appeal to both its traditional allies in big business as well as a greater swath of Latino voters by extending the possibility of legal status to undocumented immigrants and expanding some visa categories for foreign workers, a more conservative faction opposes what it sees as amnesty for immigrants who entered the country illegally, and warns of foreign labor displacing Americans. The Hill writes that aides to Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), an outspoken conservative opponent, met last Thursday with aides to 15 similar-minded House Republicans to help organize them before debates begin anew.