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Senate Republicans say they'll try to passimmigration reform legislation in the next two years if they take back the Senate in November.

The Republicans say winning back the Senate will allow them to pass a series of bills on their own terms that have a better chance of winning approval in the House.

That would give his party a chance to pass immigration legislation before the presidential election, when Hispanic voters will be crucial to winning the White House.

But Democrats are threatening that if the House does not pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year the issue will be dead in 2015 and 2016, sinking the GOP brand among Hispanics ahead of the 2016 election.

I certainly think we can make progress on immigration particularly on topics like modernizing our legal immigration system, improving our mechanisms for enforcing the law and I think if you did those things you could actually make some progress on addressing those who are illegally, Rubio said Wednesday evening of the prospects of passing immigration reform in 2015.

He said the Senate next year should pass immigration reform through a series of sequential bills that build upon each other to enact comprehensive reform. This approach would be more palatable in the House, he said.

Rubio said he was not fully satisfied with the comprehensive bill that passed the Senate last year, adding Republicans would absolutely pass better legislation if they pick up six or more seats in the midterm election.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is poised to take over as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he will vote topass immigration legislation in the next Congress if Republicans ascend to the majority.

Wed start over again next year, Grassley said, when asked about the next steps if Congress does not pass immigration reform by September.

Id make a decision about whether you could get more done by separate bills or a comprehensive bill, he said.

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GOP: We'll move immigration reform if we take back Senate

Fourth Congressional District candidate Doug Owens vowed Wednesday to make immigration reform a top campaign priority.

Jordan Allred, Deseret News

Enlarge photo

SALT LAKE CITY Fourth Congressional District candidate Doug Owens vowed Wednesday to make immigration reform a top campaign priority.

Owens' announcement comes a day after Utah business, civic and religious leaders again urged Congress to deal with immigration issues.

"Its time for Congress to set aside party politics and work together to pass real reform to our nations antiquated, ineffective immigration laws, the first-time Democratic candidate said in a prepared statement. I call upon Utahs congressional delegation to begin working on immigration reform now, and I look forward to joining them in those efforts next year.

Owen said he supports reform that strengthens border security, upholds the law, respects the rights of those who contribute to the economy, and includes a pathway to American citizenship.

Owens faces Republican Mia Love for the seat held by seven-term Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, who isn't seeking re-election.

Love, who narrowly lost to Matheson in 2012, favors immigration reform that secures the nation's borders and makes naturalization rules more clear. She would also offer incentives for those who enter and leave the country by charging a fee of a few thousand dollars to people who come on visas and then refund the money when they leave.

Dennis Romboy

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Immigration reform could be issue in Owens, Love race

By Suzanne Gamboa

A co-founder of the Tea Party Express announced support for immigration reform Wednesday.

Sal Russo, co-founder of the organization that uses national bus tours to spread its political views, said Wednesday "conservatives should be leaders in the immigration reform movement."

"There are so many bad ideas about immigration reform that too many conservatives have become satisfied with just saying no The time has come for conservatives to step up and be leaders," he said in a call with reporters. Russo also expressed his support in an opinion article.

Russo said he wants to change the vocabulary on the issue because conservatives equate immigration reform with "amnesty." "We need to get conservatives to the (House) floor. Too many conservatives have not been," Russo said.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., immediately lauded Russo in a statement. "It is clear that conservatives understand that we cannot continue to have a system with porous borders that hurts our economy and threatens our national security interests," said Diaz-Balart, who has been trying to build support among his GOP colleagues.

Also Wednesday, the pro-immigration reform groups Partnership for a New American Economy and Americans for Tax Reform released a national survey of 400 Republican primary voters who identify with the Tea Party.

The survey found 71 percent thought Congress should act on immigration this year and 76 percent support improved border security and enforcement, as well as a way to let immigrants remain in the U.S.

Also, 70 percent support providing legal status or U.S. citizenship for immigrants illegally here. Sixty-nine percent said they'd support a candidate who backs broad reform.

The survey has a margin of error of 4.9 percent and was done May 9-12.

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Tea Party Leader Calls for Conservative-Led Immigration Reform

After months of being on the receiving end of criticism that theyre not doing enough on immigration, Senate Democrats are aggressively pushing the focus back to House Republicans.

Liberal activists and lawmakers have largely concentrated on President Barack Obama recently, urging his administration to ease deportations. Now, some of those same voices are training their fire on the GOP lawmakers in the House taking seriously threats from congressional Republicans that major executive action could kill the prospects of reform altogether.

The rhetorical pressure was on full display Wednesday with twin speeches on the Senate floor, as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took turns blasting House Republicans for not moving on immigration reform so far this year and warning them that time is running out.

I want to be clear what our window is for the House to pass immigration reform it is the window between early June and the August recess, said Schumer, a member of the Senates Gang of Eight that produced a comprehensive reform bill that cleared the chamber nearly one year ago. If Speaker [John] Boehner, [Majority] Leader [Eric] Cantor and other Republican leaders refuse to schedule a vote on immigration reform during this window it will not pass until 2017 at the earliest.

(Also on POLITICO: Tea party leader backs immigration reform)

Reid noted that Wednesday marked 321 days since his chamber passed a sweeping comprehensive reform bill.

We need to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, he said. We can only do that if the Republicans in the House, led by Speaker Boehner, do the right thing.

The strategy reflects a renewed hope that at least some type of immigration reform legislation is still possible after the issue has stalled on Capitol Hill for the past year amid intense opposition from conservatives in the House.

Buzz about a potential reform effort is growing this week. Speaking in San Antonio on Monday, Boehner said he still wants to do immigration reform and noted that lawmakers in both parties are getting closer on the policy side.

But the window for a new law or even smaller pieces of a comprehensive bill is rapidly closing. Obama noted on Tuesday that lawmakers have just two, three months to get the ball rolling.

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House pressed on immigration

President Obama says the window for passing immigration reform legislation is rapidly closing as midterm elections approach. Will he go it alone if the House doesn't pick up the ball?

President Obama said Tuesday he is still holding out hope that Congress will find time to pass some form of immigration reform before politicians become completely consumed with the upcoming midterm elections.

Staff writer

Noelle Swan writes for the national news desk at the Monitor. She previously worked on the Business and Family pages as a writer and editor.

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"We've got this narrow window. The closer we get to the midterm elections, the harder it is to get things done around here," Mr. Obama said at a White House meeting of top law enforcement officials, Reuters reported. "We've got maybe a window ... of two, three months to get the ball rolling in the House of Representatives.

The president reiterated that he would be willing to accept a compromise as long as the bill that reaches his desk affords some path to citizenship.

The Senate passed immigration legislation 11 months ago with bipartisan support, but the House has yet to introduce a corresponding bill.

House Speaker John Boehner has chided fellow Republicans for not taking action on the issue.

Read more:
Immigration reform: Congress can still act before midterms, Obama says (+video)