Immigration Reform News 2017: Trackers Say Major Immigration Policy This Year Is a Long Shot

By Janna Dela Cruz, Christian Post Contributor Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Majority of policy trackers and veterans believe that it is very unlikely for a comprehensive immigration reform to see the light of day in 2017.

A House leadership aide told CNN that should there be an immigration reform policy that will come out this year, it might be "really limited in scope."

A major immigration reform bill with the scale comparable to that of the bipartisan Gang of Eight immigration reform package from 2013 might just be too big of a step at the moment.

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Despite the first opportunity to take a big step in the immigration reform coming this spring, thanks to President Donald Trump's border security package, the attempt for a major immigration reform bill this year is expected to face the same fate as the one from four years ago.

The all-inclusive bipartisan Gang of Eight immigration reform package of 2013, which championed permanent legal residency for undocumented immigrants with means such as agriculture industry solution and border enforcement among others, was passed by the Senate, but was shot down by the House.

For Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the no. 2 Senate Republican, lawmakers are bound to hit the same dead end if they go for a major immigration reform bill in one fell swoop so he suggests that they take it one step at a time.

"My conclusion is we're not going to be able to do a big comprehensive bill," Cornyn told Bloomberg back in November. "We've tried that. It just doesn't work. We need to secure the border and we need to enforce the law in regards to people with criminal records who are illegally in this country. And then we can have a further conversation," he went on to say.

However, even the idea of taking small steps towards a major immigration reform bill has its naysayers. Democrats are all for undocumented immigrants living peacefully in the United States to gain citizenship while Republicans want enforcement – the former will involve fees while the latter will entail adjustment tax.

Despite all this, the Gang of Eight members except from Sen. Marco Rubio appear to be willing to lead the efforts for a major immigration reform. However, a Democrat aide sees another hindrance in this.

"You would have to have political legs for immigration reform before you even (start) talking about the Gang of Eight membership," the aide said.