Much of the media coverage surrounding the effort to reform the United States’ outdated and incredibly inefficient immigration system has focused on the controversy surrounding those Republicans who are in favor of comprehensive immigration reform and those who are not, but lately that coverage has begun to shift, as the Democrats are also an important part of this effort.
One issue surrounds an immigration compromise being written by the House in parallel to the version in the Senate, with Republicans wanting publicly funded medical care to be unavailable to undocumented immigrants being granted a pathway to citizenship. However, Democrat leaders in the House are not happy at the notion of blocking access to publicly subsidized care such as emergency room treatment to undocumented immigrants. Negotiators have been trying to find a way to smooth out the differences between the two sides when it comes to healthcare.
The other issue at stake is that of increasing the number of US visas to be granted to low-skilled workers, which the White House has been quietly pushing back against, to the chagrin of the Republicans.
There seems little chance of a compromise being reached on this issue, and it is likely to put an end to the bipartisanship effort in the House, making the Senate bill a more realistic middle ground and also meaning that it is the one with the most chance of being able to survive the House and to be made law.