Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced on Tuesday that he would not try to bring up a vote on any immigration measures without a majority of the House Republicans supporting it creating yet another hurdle as Congress attempts to overhaul the nation's immigration system, according to The New York Times.
Any immigration bill that features a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens currently in the U.S. will be met with strong opposition by House Republicans. Boehner put to rest any notions that conservatives might have had that the Speaker would attempt to push a bill through without their support.
"I also suggested to our members today that any immigration reform bill that is going to go into law ought to have a majority of both parties' support if we're really serious about making that happen, and so I don't see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn't have a majority support of Republicans," Boehner said.
Boehner's announcement was likely prompted by comments that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., made during an interview with World Net Daily radio on Monday.
"If Speaker Boehner moves forward and permits this to come to a vote even though the majority of the Republicans in the House - and that's if they do - oppose whatever it is that's coming to a vote, he should be removed as Speaker," Rohrabacher said. "I would consider that a betrayal of the Republican members of the House and a betrayal of the Republicans throughout the country."
In addition to saying that he would not break the "Hastert rule," former Speaker Dennis Hastert would almost never allow a vote without a majority of Republicans supporting the vote; Boehner took a shot at the immigration bill's current form in the Senate, according to Reuters.
"I think the Senate bill is weak on border security," Boehner said. "I think the internal enforcement mechanisms are weak and the triggers are almost laughable."
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has introduced a measure to the House's version of the immigration bill that would give state and local governments the power to enforce immigration laws, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Goodlatte said that enforcing immigration laws in the states that do not have a border "is the place where we think the Senate bill is absolutely the weakest."
"If we're going to have meaningful immigration reform, it's got to include a strong enforcement component, that doesn't allow the president of the United States...[the ability to] flip a switch and say, 'We're not going to enforce this or that area of immigration law,'" Goodlatte said.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., is strongly against the measure introduced by Goodlatte.
"The approach this bill takes is dangerous and wrong, and I hope today's hearing is not a sign of the direction in which this committee is heading," Lofgren said.
Despite the potential obstacles involved in getting the bill voted on and the need to find a middle ground between the stricter House version of the bill and the one sitting in the Senate some lawmakers are confident that something will get done by the Fourth of July, according to NBC News.
"I can see a pathway forward," Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said. "I really do believe we will pass comprehensive immigration reform. I think we will do it be the Fourth of July recess."
