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House Speaker John A. Boehner has emerged as the key figure of immigration reform legislation this year, and he has sent dramatically mixed signals about whether Congress will approve a bill.

At home in Ohio last month, he seemed to mock his fellow House Republicans by telling a local Rotary Club that they think immigration reform is too politically difficult. But returning to Washington last week, Mr. Boehner said the problem wasnt his troops, but rather a trust deficit with President Obama.

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Advocates and opponents of immigration reform now say they dont know where the House speaker stands on the issue as time runs short before November elections.

He has been very consistent with his inconsistencies on immigration, so nobody knows what to expect or what to believe on this topic, said Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican who has long opposed granting legal status to illegal immigrants.

He said talk of legalization is encouraging more illegal immigrants to try to enter the U.S.

Mr. Boehner replaces the president as the key figure on immigration reform. Mr. Obama long pledged to tackle the issue during his first year in the White House, and his political stock among Hispanics sank when he failed to follow through.

After the president helped shepherd a bipartisan deal through the Senate last year, chiefly by staying out of negotiations, attention shifted to the House and to Mr. Boehner.

Unlike many others in his party, the Ohio Republican seems to want to pass a legalization bill.

Two days after Mr. Obama won re-election in 2012, Mr. Boehner announced that a comprehensive immigration deal would be a top bipartisan priority for Republicans looking to find areas of agreement with the president.

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As key to immigration reform in the House, Speaker Boehner sends mixed signals