Obama targets immigration reform by year’s end

US President Barack Obama has once again appealed for the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform which would revolutionise the country’s high and low skilled immigration systems.

US Immigration Reform

US Immigration Reform Rallies

While wholesale immigration reform was passed by the Senate earlier this year, its path through Congress has been delayed by the Republican controlled House who, while happy with most of the amendments suggested regarding the skilled visa programmes, are not happy with proposals to offer a route to citizenship for the country’s 11 million illegal immigrants.

However, President Obama has now called on the House to introduce the legislation by the end of this year. “It [immigration reform] doesn’t get easier to put it off,” the President said at an appearance at the White House yesterday. “Rather than create problems, let’s prove to the American people that Washington can actually solve some problems,” he added, referring to the recent government shutdown which angered many Americans.

However, in spite of the President’s plea it would appear the House of the Representatives would still prefer to approach immigration reform on a piece by piece basis rather than passing the whole legislation in one go – as Obama has demanded. “The House is committed to a common sense, step-by-step approach that gives Americans confidence that reform is done the right way,” House spokesman Brendan Buck said in response. “We hope that the president will work with us – not against us – as we pursue this deliberate approach.”

Earlier this week, Republican leader of the House, Speaker John Boehner, had indicated that he was hopeful that immigration legislation could be passed before year’s end.

Article published 25th October 2013

Obama on  immigration reform

Obama on immigration reform