Immigration deal reached in House
A bipartisan group of eight congressmen on Thursday evening announced they've reached a breakthrough in their months-long negotiations over comprehensive immigration reform.
"The bipartisan group working on #immigration in House has made a deal in principle," Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., wrote on Twitter.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., similarly wrote with respect to immigration, "Important breakthrough, some details still to be worked out, but very pleased things are moving forward."
Groups of bipartisan lawmakers in both the House and the Senate earlier this year were engaged in behind-the-scenes talks over immigration reform. The Senate group, however, has worked at a faster pace and introduced a bill last month. That bill is now undergoing the amendment process in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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On Thursday morning, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, expressed some concern to reporters about the House effort.
"I am concerned that the bipartisan group has been unable to wrap up their work," he said. "And I know that there are some very difficult issues that have come up. But I continue to believe that the House needs to deal with this, and the House needs to work its will. How we get there, we're still -- we're still dealing with it."
Balancing the interests of Democrats, such as creating a pathway to citizenship for the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, with conservative concerns over issues like security and the economy is a bigger challenge in the GOP-led House than it is in the Senate. While there are many Republicans who've expressed interest in finding a compromise on the issue of immigration, a contingency of conservative House Republicans remains obstinately opposed to the effort.
