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By Steven Dennis Posted at 10:54 a.m. on Sept. 28

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated 9:15 a.m. | Speaker John A. Boehner says its still time to do an immigration overhaul, and believes absolutely he can convince the GOP to do it.

I said the day after the 2012 election it was time to do immigration reform. I meant it then and I mean it today, the Ohio Republican saidon ABC News This Week.

When exactly he might schedule a vote isnt clear. Boehner said the nation first needs border security. He pointed to the child migrant crisis as preventing passage of an immigration bill earlier this year.

We had a flood of children coming across the border once again proving that no good immigration bill can pass until we have real border security, he told George Stephanopoulos.

Big things in Washington take bipartisan majorities. Issue of immigration, only way to do it, and frankly the right way to do it, is to do it in a broad bipartisan way, Boehner said.

And you think you can bring your party along on that?

Absolutely, Boehner answered.

Boehner, of course, has expressed confidence on immigration at various points over the last two years, but the only measures that have come to the floor would roll back President Barack Obamas executive actions granting deportation relief to young illegal immigrants brought to the United States as minors.

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Boehner 'Absolutely' Confident GOP Would Back Immigration Overhaul

Bishop Blase Cupich of the Spokane Catholic Diocese pressed the urgency of immigration reform as an important national security issue and humanitarian cause Friday in a press conference called to highlight his appointment as the next archbishop ofChicago.

Cupich called for immigrants to have legal status in the United States, though not necessarilycitizenship.

It would help the country better account for people living within its borders, provide stability for families and help businesses, such as farm and orchard owners, who employ thousands of immigrant workers, hesaid.

Immigration reform has been held hostage, I think, by too many

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Newly selected archbishop Blase Cupich chats with Nada Stockton before giving opening remarks at the Caring for Kids benefit luncheon Thursday at the Double Tree Hotel in downtownSpokane. (Full-size photo)

Bishop Blase Cupich of the Spokane Catholic Diocese pressed the urgency of immigration reform as an important national security issue and humanitarian cause Friday in a press conference called to highlight his appointment as the next archbishop ofChicago.

Cupich called for immigrants to have legal status in the United States, though not necessarilycitizenship.

It would help the country better account for people living within its borders, provide stability for families and help businesses, such as farm and orchard owners, who employ thousands of immigrant workers, hesaid.

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Bishop Cupich, named to Chicago, presses immigration reform - Sat, 27 Sep 2014 PST

Close Up Hangout with U.S. Rep Steny Hoyer
5 Maryland high schools will discuss the minimum wage, immigration reform/the border crisis, and net neutrality with Rep. Steny Hoyer.

By: Close Up Foundation

Originally posted here:
Close Up Hangout with U.S. Rep Steny Hoyer - Video

In light of President Obama's decision to delay his much-anticipated edict on immigration until after November's elections, some critics are asking why the president and Democrats in Congress didn't pass immigration reform back when they had overwhelming majorities in both House and Senate.

It's a good question and a good reason to revisit 2009 and 2010, when immigration reform could have become a reality.

As a presidential candidate, Obama promised to put comprehensive immigration reform back on the nation's agenda during my first year in office. After victory in 2008, he had the clout to do so: sky-high approval ratings, 257 Democrats in the House and, for a while, a filibuster-proof majority of 60 Democrats in the Senate.

Immigration activists pressed hard for Obama to act; after all, he had promised.

As 2009 unfolded, Obama encouraged the activists to believe he was committed to introducing a comprehensive reform bill. After a White House meeting, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, told reporters Obama had promised a bill in the very near future.

The next month, April 2009, the White House sent out word that Obama was preparing to move. The New York Times reported: (O)ver the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

Things seemed to be on track.

Throughout June, Obama and top Democrats promised action. After meeting with congressional leaders, Obama declared they all want to actively get something done and not put it off until a year, two years, three years, five years from now.

As the summer of 2009 went on, though, the talk slowed down as work on health care reform consumed the administration. Immigration fell out of the first tier, if it had ever really been there. By August, Obama put reform at the bottom of a long list.

Immigration reform would have to wait for 2010. And then 2011. And then 2012. And then 2013. And now 2014.

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Immigration reform still a promise

Less than a week after Pope Francis named Bishop Blase Cupich the next archbishop of Chicago, the appointee spoke of his move to Illinois, citing immigration reform as chief among the issues to tackle here.

In a news conference this morning in Spokane, Wash., Cupich said he was prepared to work with political and community leaders on immigration reform.

It has been held hostage, I think, to too many views that need to examine whether or not the common good is being secured, saidCupich, 65.

The bishop said he would support state recognition for immigrants, though not necessarily citizenship, in order to better account for immigrants living in the United States.

These people pay taxes, they contribute to the common good it is a matter of making sure we can give them legal status, he said.

Cupich also described the call he received Sept. 11 when the papal nuncio told him that he had been selected for the Chicago position.

I prayed that the Lord would deliver our country from all disaster, then I was appointed to Chicago, Cupich said jokingly. You figure that one out.

Pope Francis named Cupich as the next archbishop Sept. 20. The announcement came just after the Vatican announced the resignation of the cancer-stricken Cardinal Francis George, 77, earlier that morning.

Cupich will step in as leader of the areas 2 million Roman Catholics after his planned installation Nov. 18. George will maintain the position until then.

Throughout the news conference Cupich displayed his sense of humor, joking that he would adopt a Chicago accent and adapt to Chicago sports teams that would likely not win as often as the Gonzaga University Zags of Spokane.

Continue reading here:
Cupich discusses immigration reform and move to Chicago