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House Immigration Group Stalls As 2 Republicans Drop Out

House Immigration Group Close To Dead
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An effort by a bipartisan House group to create a comprehensive immigration reform bill has stalled, group member Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said Friday, and likely won't produce any bill this fall, as two Republicans have dropped out of negotiations.

"The bipartisan group just wasn't getting support from Republican House leadership," Gutierrez told the Washington Post's Greg Sargent. "It's just not gonna happen now."

The group of seven members had been working for years on comprehensive immigration reform that would, unlike most GOP proposals, include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. It suffered a blow in June when Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) dropped out over health care issues, but the remaining members continued to insist they were close to a deal. They announced they had agreed to key principles in May, but observers began to worry they wouldn't release a bill at all when the process continued to drag on. It was never clear whether House GOP leadership would allow a vote on the group's legislation, even if they were to introduce it.

The group consisted of Democratic Reps. Gutierrez, Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), plus Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Sam Johnson (R-Texas) and John Carter (R-Texas) -- but Johnson and Carter have now quit negotiations.

Johnson and Carter issued a joint statement on Friday afternoon saying they "are honored to have worked" with the group, but will no longer do so.

"After years of hard work and countless meetings, we have reached a tipping point and can no longer continue working on a broad approach to immigration," they said. "We want to be clear. The problem is politics. Instead of doing what's right for America, President Obama time and again has unilaterally disregarded the U.S. Constitution, the letter of the law and bypassed the Congress -- the body most representative of the people -- in order to advance his political agenda. We will not tolerate it. Laws passed by Congress are not merely suggestions, regardless of the current atmosphere in Washington. Laws are to be respected and followed by all -- particularly by the Commander-in-Chief."

They went on to say Obama's actions on Obamacare have proved he should not be granted additional discretion because "any measure depending on the president's enforcement will not be faithfully executed."

"The administration's practice of hand-picking what parts of laws they wish to enforce has irrevocably damaged our efforts of fixing our broken immigration system," they said.

Lofgren issued a statement after Johnson and Carter had announced their decision saying she is "sure that they would agree that our efforts during these last several years were characterized by mutual respect and serious legislative work." She went on to say the group's efforts could still be used to help move forward immigration reform.

"In the end, it's the Republican leadership that must make a decision on whether they intend to allow the current broken immigration system to continue as it is, or whether they will allow the House to vote on reform," she said. "I continue to be hopeful that Republican leaders will schedule votes on serious reform measures that aren't host to known poison pills. It can be done. Let's hope Congress can perform this basic task."

Gutierrez also put out a statement in response to the news, and said advocates will continue to pressure House leaders to allow a vote on comprehensive reform. The statement read in part:

John Carter, Sam Johnson, and Mario Diaz-Balart put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into our group and are among a few dozen Republicans I think will be critical to successfully getting a solution out of the House. Right now things are partisan and polarized and Carter and Johnson took a shot at President Obama in pulling out of the group, but everyone knows there are two critically important reasons we need to pass immigration reform. One, our commitment to justice, our security, our economy and the growth of our nation require a modern immigration system based on the rule of law and both parties understand we need legislation to get us there. Secondly, there are enough sensible Republicans who understand that the future of their party depends on getting this issue resolved.

Becerra said in a statement that he was saddened the group is now at an impasse, but also promised to continue to push for immigration reform.

Only one Republican, Diaz-Balart, is still with the group, although he said in a statement that he shares his GOP colleagues' frustration with the president.

"I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to solve the issues of our country's broken immigration system," he said. "I've long said that immigration reform will not be easy, but I'm continuing to find other avenues that will ultimately lead to a solution that the American people demand," he added later.

This post has been updated with comment from additional members.

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Before You Go

10 Major U.S. Federal Immigration Laws
The Naturalization Act of 1790(01 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1790 was our country's first set of laws dealing with citizenship. Applicants had to be "a free white person" of "good moral character." This excluded indentured servants and slaves. Good moral character was substantiated by establishing residence for at least one year in the state from where he was applying, and at least two years of residence in the country. The Naturalization Act of 1795 would extend that requirement to five years, and is still standard today. (credit:Flickr)
The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868(02 of10)
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A Reconstruction Amendment that was added to the U.S. Constitution following the Civil War, the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment establishes for the first time that children born on U.S. soil would be conferred U.S. citizenship regardless of their parent's citizenship status, race, or place of birth. Last year, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 to Congress, and challenged this. The bill would require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident for a child to be granted citizenship. According to the bill's text, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, and "clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth."Prior to this, Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) introduced a similar bill in 2009. (credit:Getty)
The Naturalization Act of 1870(03 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1870 explicitly extended naturalization laws to "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." This meant that for the first time, African-American children would be conferred citizenship upon birth. Asian immigrants and other people of color are excluded per the Naturalization Acts of 1790 and 1795. (credit:Getty)
The Page Act of 1875(04 of10)
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Named after Republican Representative Horace F. Page, this is the first U.S. federal immigration law to explicitly prohibit the immigration of a particular group: persons of Asian descent. Primarily meant to limit Chinese immigrant labor and prostitution, the Page Act prohibited the immigration of: (1) contracted labor from "China, Japan, or any Oriental country" that was not "free and voluntary," (2) Chinese prostitution and (3) criminals and women who would engage in prostitution. Ultimately, the Page Act severely restricted the immigration of Asian women. Only 136 of the the nearly 40,000 Chinese immigrants who arrived in the months before the bill's enforcement were women. And, it would pave the way for the Chinese Exclusion Act.In this picture, Michael Lin, chair of the 1882 Project, a coalition of rights groups seeking a statement of regret over that year's Chinese Exclusion Act, speaks on May 26, 2011 in Washington, DC, at the US House of Representatives in front of a reproduction of a 19th-century sign that aimed at rousing up sentiment against Chinese Americans. Lawmakers introduced a bill that would offer an official statement of regret for the act, which banned further immigration of Chinese to the United States and ended citizenship rights for ethnic Chinese. (AFP PHOTO/SHAUN TANDON). (credit:Getty)
The Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882(05 of10)
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Signed by President Chester A. Arthur, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first federal immigration law to prohibit immigration on the basis of race. The bill barred all Chinese laborers, skilled and unskilled, from immigrating to the U.S. for ten years. It was made permanent by 1903, and was not lifted until the 1943 Magnuson Act. The 1898 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark finally extended naturalization laws to persons of Chinese descent by ruling that anyone born in the United States was indeed a U.S. citizen. This editorial cartoon from 1882 shows a Chinese man being excluded from entry to the "Golden Gate of Liberty." The sign next to the iron door reads, "Notice--Communist, Nihilist, Socialist, Fenian & Hoodlum welcome. But no admittance to Chinamen." At the bottom, the caption reads, "THE ONLY ONE BARRED OUT. Enlightened American Statesman--'We must draw the line somewhere, you know.'" (Image Source: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 54 (1882 April 1), p. 96. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons). (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
The Naturalization Act of 1906(06 of10)
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The Naturalization Act of 1906 further defined the naturalization process: the ability to speak English was made a requisite for immigrants to adjust their status. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration Act of 1924(07 of10)
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U.S. President Coolidge signed this U.S. federal bill into law. It capped the number of immigrants who could be admitted entry to the U.S. and barred immigration of persons who were not eligible for naturalization. And, as the Naturalization Act of 1790 required, an immigrant had to be white in order to naturalize. The quotas varied by country. Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons, NYCMarines. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarran-Walter Act)(08 of10)
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The McCarran-Walter Act kept up the controversial Immigration Act of 1924, but formally ended Asian exclusion. (credit:Flickr Creative Commons)
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965(09 of10)
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When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, it abolished the quota system that favored immigration from Europe and limited immigration from Asia and South America. (credit:Wikimedia Commons)
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996(10 of10)
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The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) is a piece of legislation that defined an array of issues to do with legal and illegal immigration -- from outlining how border patrol agents should administer visa processing, to the minutiae of how to handle deportation proceedings -- IIRIRA established enforcement and patrolling practices. (credit:AP)
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