John Boehner, the speaker of the House of the Representatives, says he believes he can help to persuade the Republican party to enact immigration reform next year; however Roll Call says Boehner refused to make clear precisely when he intends to schedule a vote on the issue, as he wants stricter border control in the United States before he does so.
The arrival of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant minors from Central America over the course of the last year is one of the reasons why immigration reform has not happened in 2014, according to Boehner. “We had a flood of children coming across the border once again proving that no good immigration bill can pass until we have real border security,” he declared during an interview with ABC News’ This Week. “Big things in Washington take bipartisan majorities. The issue of immigration, only way to do it, and frankly the right way to do it, is to do it in a broad bipartisan way.”
Boehner has indicated his confidence in the ability of Congress to pass legislation relating to immigration reform many times before; however, he has brought just a handful of votes on the issue to the floor of the House in the last couple of years.
Boehner also used This Week to again voice his disapproval of President Obama’s stated intention to enact immigration reform using his executive authority by the end of this year if Congress continues to fail to take action.