The democratic party by its own actions favor such legislation. The republican party by its own inaction are opposed to it and the media has failed to report on it properly. Yet, CIRL is the only answer to the problem because immigration has so many different issues it can only be addressed by CIRL. More than one President over the years have issued executive orders on the issues but the problem is still there because of the many immigration issues not addressed.
In the year 2013 the democratic controlled U.S. Senate during the Obama administration passed CIRL with republican support. It was a good overall bill that would have gone a long way to address the many problems of the subject. The Senate vote was 68-32 and fourteen republicans joined the majority democratic vote. The George W. Bush Institute sad the legislation was bullish on the U.S. economy. The bill was sent to the republican controlled U.S. House for their action and they just let it die without even introducing the bill for debate or a vote.
During the 2016 Presidential campaign every GOP candidate in their own debates said the number one issue if elected President would be immigration reform. Well, Trump won the Presidency and the GOP controlled both houses of congress the first two years yet CIRL was never introduced or debated. The GOP also controlled the Senate all 4 of Trump's years in office and they too did nothing on CIRL. Trump built a partial wall and separated children from their mothers at the border and did nothing for immigration reform. In fact a U.S. Judge ordered the U.S. to reunite those children with their mothers and that fell to the Biden administration to do since Trump was long gone. And of course, Trump said Mexico would pay for his wall and Mexico told Trump what he could do with his wall.
Today the U.S. still has an immigration problem that has yet to be answered because the full congress has not acted on the total immigration problem. This writer is of the opinion that President Biden will address the issue in 2024 and make CIRL a legislative fact. The GOP can no longer deny the problem and their lack of responsible actions. They are doing their best to make immigration a democratic issue and are trying to cover up their failed past of addressing the situation. The time is ripe to come together and it will take place on the democratic watch.
The democratic party actually have a record of supporting CIRL with legislation and a actual vote, the GOP does not. Instead the GOP try to use a government shutdown concerning only one part of immigration that they failed to do under Trump's administration. The President will hold them accountable and CIRL will become a fact.
Note: John Boehner was Speaker of the U.S. House when the House refused to take up CIRL that the U.S. Senate passed in 2013. A few years after he retired he said the GOP never did want to pass comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation. And that really says it all.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
