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Feb 4, 2014 4:51pm

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell predicted today that immigration reform will not get done in 2014, saying the House and Senate are too far apart on how to approach legislation.

I think we have sort of an irresolvable conflict here, McConnell told reporters. The Senate insists on comprehensive and the House says it wont go to conference with the Senate on comprehensive and wants to look at it step-by-step.

I dont see how you get to an outcome this year with the two bodies in such a different place, he added.

McConnells prediction comes days after House Republican leadership introduced a draft of its immigration principles, which would provide undocumented immigrants a path to legalization, but not a path to citizenship.

President Obama has said he does not want to pre-judge the House GOPs potential proposal, giving them room to craft their principles. But the president said he still wants to ensure any immigration reform allows people to become citizens.

We should also make sure at the end of the day people are also able to become citizens, the president said Friday.

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McConnell Says Immigration Reform Irresolvable in ...

For some reason, its being treated as a serious blow to immigration reforms hopes that Mitch McConnell said today that the conflicts over it are unresolvable. Via Sahil Kapur, heres what McConnell said:

I think we have a sort of irresolvable conflict here, he told reporters at his weekly press conference. The Senate insists on comprehensive, the House says it wont go to conference with the Senate on comprehensive, and wants to look at step-by-step. I dont see how you get to an outcome this year with the two bodies in such different places.

Oh, come on. The main differences that could derail reforms chances have nothing to do with whether this will be done in one comprehensive bill or step by step. Dems have already said they have no objection to House Republicans passing reform in pieces, as long as the end result is something that in sum resembles comprehensive reform.

And thats the rub there is a debate over whether reform will end up as something comprehensive, but this debate centers on a core ideological difference over what should be done about the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country. If anything,McConnells claim suggests Republicans are already casting around for ways to blame reforms failure on procedural differences, rather than on that fundamental dispute.

Heres how you get to a deal despite these irresolvable differences. House Republicans pass a bunch of reforms in pieces, including proposals thatbringthe 11 millionout of the shadows(Republicans will want to call this probation), and create a series of achievable and verifiablesecurity benchmarks, some of which are met at the outset, and others of which are met while the undocumented are working.GOP Reps. Paul Ryan and Mario Diaz-Balart have both hinted at this possibility.

Dems give up the special pathway to citizenship, and instead agree to accept legalization in exchange for a GOP agreement to smooth existing pathways to citizenship. To my knowledge, that latter policy ideais understood by Republicans who want to get to Yes as a necessary component of any deal that gets Dems to concede on citizenship. In this scenario, both sides are making real concessions.

Yes, Republicans say they wontenter intoconference talks with Dems because #Obummer wont enforce the law. Whatever. If they get as far as the scenario outlined above, the two sides can enter into legislative Ping-Pong that unfolds as back channel talks take place. Republicans can say they didnt pass anything comprehensive,that they insisted onenforcement and not amnesty, andthat theynever supported a special pathway to citizenship andall those things will be true. At that point what matters is whether Dems can get a handful of GOP Senators a number of whom already voted for a more comprehensive bill.

It will not be easy forHouse Republicans to get to the place where they accept legalization, or probation, before opponents of reform declare security and enforcement 100 percent complete. Thats becauseopponents will never allow for that to be acknowledged, since the whole point of insisting on it before legalization is to kill reform. At the end of the process, Republicans will have to vote on a final bill that will also be opposed by foes.

The bottom line is that Republicans will have to getopponents angry at some point ifreform is to happen, and decide instead to throw their lot inwith GOP-aligned constituencies like the business community, evangelicals, agricultural interests, and tech interests. The decision whether torisk thatwrathwill be made by House Republicans.They may decide not to go through with it. But Mitch McConnell is largely irrelevant to that process, which is to say, the processthat will determine if reform lives or dies.

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The rest is here:

If Republicans want immigration reform, theyll have to ...

Joins us now with more.

What is it that boehner said that kind of changes the picture here?

He just wrapped up his weekly news conference, and at that news conference, he made pretty clear that a couple things have to happen before republicans move forward on immigration.

He was waiting to get feedback from members.

By and large, any things is conference is supportive of these ideas moving forward on immigration reform, but he went on to say that he does not think the president has built up enough trust.

And any basically -- and he basically said the president has not proven he can be trusted.

He was not able to be trusted on health care so why should he be trusted on immigration?

Take a listen.

I have made clear for 15 months the need for the congress and the administration to work together on immigration reform.

It needs to get done.

Link:

Immigration Reform Takes a Hit

Chicago's archbishop and a former senior congressman joined the chorus of religious, political and labor leaders urging federal lawmakers to overhaul the country's immigration system this year.

Cardinal Francis George and Dennis Hastert, the former Illinois congressman and conservative House speaker, both called on Congress to revise U.S. immigration laws during an appearance at DePaul University on Tuesday.

"We need to revise them so that families can remain together and will be able to work, free of being torn apart," George said during remarks delivered as part of a panel organized by the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition.

"Deportation of non-criminals simply must end," George added. Such removals, the cardinal said, can separate families and thus contribute to "a tremendous erosion of social capital."

"We should end deportations because they break up families," George told reporters after concluding his remarks. "The family is the basic unit of our society, so if you break up families deliberately, you're going to have a much weaker society."

Hastert, meanwhile, said lawmakers should pass legislation that secures U.S. borders but also provides a path to legalization for what he described as untold millions of immigrants who live here "under the shadow of the law."

"They are part of our neighborhoods, they go to our churches, their kids go to our schools, they work in our factories, they mow the grass, they dig trees, they wash dishes, they make beds in motels I mean, they're productive people," Hastert said.

"And our economy really couldn't operate without that group. Unless those people can have some legitimacy, they can never move forward."

George's and Hastert's comments came days after President Barack Obama pushed to "fix our broken immigration system" and "get immigration reform done this year" during last week's State of the Union address.

House Republicans recently unveiled guidelines for immigration-related policy proposals but have signaled they would rather address immigration in a piecemeal fashion rather than by voting on a single piece of legislation similar to one already approved by the Senate.

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George, Hastert call for immigration reform ...

By Carrie Dann

House Speaker John Boehner dampened prospects for immigration reform this year, blaming a lack of trust between the White House and Republicans.

Theres widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws, he said Thursday in a briefing with reporters. And its going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes.

But the GOP leader did not say what rebuilding that trust might entail.

Boehner said he would continue speaking to members of his conference about how to move forward with legislation but that the presidents new focus on using executive action to accomplish his goals has undermined his push for immigration reform.

The presidents asking us to move one of the biggest bills of his presidency, and yet hes shown very little willingness to work with us on the smallest of things, he said.

A senior GOP aide disputed the idea that immigration reform is effectively dead for the year.

"The Speaker simply outlined the obstacles we face, which are formidable," the aide said.

Boehners tough talk echoes concerns voiced by rank-and-file members after Republicans unveiled their principles for immigration reform last week. While GOP leaders say they want to get immigration reform done, many Republicans are loathe to offer the White House much leeway on immigration provisions that they say would benefit Democrats at the ballot.

Rep. Paul Ryan,R-Wis., voiced similar concern on Sunday, saying that passage of reform legislation is "clearly in doubt" because of lack of faith in the president.

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Boehner: Immigration Reform 'Difficult to Move' This Year