28 Days and Counting

Congress only has 28 days left in its latest legislative session.  After that, they take a break for two months, and then, when they come back, the election season is on in full force and there is not much chance of anything of significance passing.  What does this mean for Immigration reform?  It means that every day that passes we are less likely to see anything done to reform our immigration system and modernize it with today’s realities.  This reform will not just allow more people to come to the US, but will hopefully, finally, allow USCIS to work in a more timely manner.

What is the chance that such reform will happen?  Well the most supportive Republicans put it at 50/50 at the best.  I think even that may be somewhat optimistic.  Many of the Republican politicians facing challenges from the right have distanced themselves from Immigration Reform to show that they are conservative.  The Democratic plan has little to no Republican support but there is no guarantee that Democrats will support a watered down version of their bill.  Democrats have also flatly refused to support cutting the bill into several smaller bills, which many Republicans have said is a necessity.

For all the above the chances of immigration reform happening this year seem to be dwindling rapidly.  While not gone, every day makes it less and less likely that anything will happen.