Immigration Reform By Thanksgiving?

According to an April 1, 2013 article posted by ABC News' Jim Avila, a comprehensive immigration reform bill coming out of Congress can be expected sometime around Thanksgiving. Sen. Charles Schumer D-NY seems ready to roll out a bill, crafted by the Senate's "Gang of Eight" this Monday, April 8. Over the weekend, Schumer mentioned that certain thorny issues, involving a guest worker visa program (the proposed "W-Visa") and tightening border security, had been agreed to in principle by business and labor leaders. Sen. Marco Rubio R-FL cautioned against such optimism however by stating immigration reform was not complete and that reform can't be rushed. Such mixed messages from Washington can be expected however, given the enormous political implications of comprehensive immigration reform, and the fallout expected from voters on the right.

Rubio aside, it does appear that immigration reform is moving forward and major hurdles have been overcome. If Schumer is to introduce a bill next Monday, the bill still needs to go to the full Senate for hearings. Sources expect a full vote on the Senate's bill to occur around June.

And the House's own "Gang of Eight" is also ironing out details on their own version of comprehensive immigration reform, with House sources stating that their version of the bill will be introduced about a week after the Senates. Insiders expect the House's comprehensive immigration reform bill to be voted on in the fall. Then both bills would need to be reconciled in conference committees, thereby giving a final vote and Presidential signature sometime around Thanksgiving, according to the ABC piece.

Expect more political wrangling in the days and weeks ahead, and by all means, do not assume, no matter what the press is reporting, that immigration reform is a done deal. One only needs to turn back the clock to 2007 to see how quickly reform, in this case immigration reform, can be derailed and forgotten about.

To learn more about immigration law or if you need help with an immigration matter, please visit www.kpimmigrationlaw.com or call 949-440-3240.